The  Rock  of 
the  Lion 


MOLLY  ELLIOT  SEAWELL 


.   OF  CALIF.   LIBRARY. 


THE  ROCK  OF  THE  LION 


MOLLY  ELLIOT  SEA  WELL 

AUTHOR  OF 

"A  VIRGINIA  CAVALIER"  "LITTLE  JARVIS"  "PAUL  JONES' 

"THE   SPRIGHTLY   ROMANCE   OF   MARSAC" 

"CHILDREN  OF  DESTINY"  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 
BY  A.  I.  KELLER 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 
HARPER   &   BROTHERS   PUBLISHERS 


2132641 


Copyright,  1897.  by  HARPER  k  BROTHBRS. 


AT  GIBRALTAR. 

England,  I  stand  on  thy  imperial  ground, 
A'ot  all  a  stranger ;  as  thy  bugles  blow, 
/  feet  within  my  blood  old  battle*  flow— 

The  blood  whose  ancient  found  in  thte  are  found. 

Still  surging  dark  against  the  Chrittian  bound 
Wide  Islam  jtr esses;  well  its  peoples  know 
Thy  height*  that  watch  them  wandering  below; 

I  think  how  Lucknoia  heard  their  gathering  found. 

I  turn  and  meet  the  cruel,  turbaned  face. 
England,  'tis  sweet  to  be  so  much  thy  son  I 

I  feel  the  conqueror  in  my  blood  and  race; 
Last  night  Trafalgar  awed  me,  and  to-day 

Gibraltar  wakened;  hark,  thy  evening  gun 
Startles  the  desert  over  Africa! 

— GBORQB  K.  WOODBKRRT. 


PREFACE 


The  Rock  of  the  Lion  is  not  a  history  of  the 
siege  of  Gibraltar,  although  the  story  of  that 
immortal  siege  of  1779-83  has  been  closely 
studied  and  followed  in  preparing  this  book  for 
young  readers.  The  writer  has  used  the  roman- 
cer's just  and  inalienable  right  to  introduce  real 
persons  and  events  whenever  it  would  be  of 
service  to  the  story.  Only  one  liberty  has  been 
taken  with  chronology ;  it  refers  to  Paul  Jones, 
and  is  unimportant  in  character. 

MOLLY  ELLIOT  SEAWEIJU 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


BASKERVILLE'S  EYES  FOLLOWED  THE  COURSE  OF 

THE  "  SEAHORSE  " Frontispiece 

"  HE     PUT     THE    CANDLE     DOWN     AND    DROPPED 

UPON  THE  SETTEE" Facing  p.    38 

THE    LANDLADY     STOOD    BETWEEN    ARCHY    AND 

THE    OFFICER  "  78 

"  '  PERHAPS  YOU  DO  NOT  KNOW  THAT  I  AM   AN 

AMERICAN  "' "  106 

"  ARCHY    MAKES  AWAY   WITH    A  BAG  OF   POTA- 
TOES  FOR    MRS.    CURTIS  '' 132 

LANGTON    WAS   TAKEN    DOWN    THE    HILL   IN    A 

WHEELBARROW 166 

HE   SAW   AN   OFFICER   LYING  IN   A   DITCH   .      .      .  200 

"  ISABEL    AND    MARY    EXTENDED    THEIR    HANDS 

TO  PAUL  JONES  " "  278 


THE  KOCK  OF  THE  LION 


THE  ROCK  OF  THE  LION 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  sun,  a  great  orb  of  glory,  hung  low  in 
the  west,  lighting  up  the  sea  and  sky  with  a 
blaze  of  splendor.  Long  lances  of  rosy  flame 
shot  across  the  blue  Mediterranean,  even  to  the 
horizon,  which  was  the  color  of  pearls  and  opals. 
Afar  off,  in  the  dim  distance,  the  Rock  of  Gibral- 
tar, a  huge,  mysterious  shadow,  like  a  couchant 
lion,  seemed  to  keep  watch  over  sea  and  land. 
Yast  and  majestic,  looming  large  in  the  clear 
obscure  of  evening,  it  dwarfed  everything  less 
great  than  itself  into  nothingness,  except  one— a 
magnificent  ship  of  the  line,  the  Thunderer,  which 
swept  along  under  a  mountain  of  canvas.  The 
ensign  of  England,  which  flew  from  her  peak, 
seemed  to  kiss  the  skies,  while  the  long  pennant, 
signifying  "homeward  bound,"  that  flew  from 
the  giant  main-mast,  touched  the  sapphire  sea. 


2  THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

A  hundred  and  twenty  guns  armed  hor  mighty 
hull,  and  she  carried  a  thousand  men  to  fight 
them.  The  rush  of  the  wind  through  her  tre- 
mendous rigging  was  like  the  roar  of  a  cataract, 
and  as  she  cleft  the  seas  they  bellowed  under 
her  bows  with  a  reverberation  like  thunder. 

The  crimson  and  gold  rim  of  the  sun  still 
flamed  angrily  above  the  horizon,  but  the  pearl 
and  opal  and  ruby  sky  changed  suddenly  to  a 
coppery  red,  streaked  with  green,  and  the  wind 
rose  steadily.  Approaching  the  mighty  battle- 
ship, on  the  opposite  tack,  was  seen  a  small  frig- 
ate, as  perfect  in  her  dainty  way  as  the  leviathan 
that  was  bearing  down  upon  her.  She,  too,  wore 
the  colors  of  England.  As  soon  as  she  got  fairly 
within  sight  a  signal-flag  was  broken  out  from 
her  foretruck.  In  answer  to  it  the  ship  of  the 
line  threw  her  maintop-sail  aback  and  hove  to. 
The  frigate  did  likewise,  and  a  cutter  dropped 
into  the  water  from  her  side.  A  midshipman 
and  twelve  men  were  in  the  boat,  and  another 
person — a  lad  of  about  sixteen,  wearing  a  naval 
uniform,  but  different  from  the  uniform  of  the 
midshipman.  The  boat  was  rapidly  pulled  across 
the  blue  water,  now  ruffled  by  the  breeze,  and 
soon  lay  rocking  and  tumbling  like  a  cork  under 
the  huge  hull  of  the  ship  of  the  line.  The  two 


THE    BOCK    OF    THE    LION 


lads  rosetand  grasped  each  other's  hand.  They 
said  nothing,  being  Anglo-Saxons,  but  their  looks 
were  eloquent,  and  in  the  eyes  of  both  there  were 
tears.  The  midshipman  said  a  word  to  the  men, 
and  they  brought  the  boat  alongside,  just  under 
the  main-chains.  The  younger  one,  taking  off  his 
cap,  nodded  to  the  men  in  the  boat,  and,  without 
waiting  for  the  Jacob's-ladder  which  was  about 
to  be  thrown  over  the  side,  made  a  spring  like  a 
cat  and  landed  in  the  chain-plates.  The  men, 
ever  pleased  with  a  show  of  daring  and  dexter- 
ity, raised  a  cheer,  in  which  some  of  the  sailors 
hanging  over  the  Thunderer's  rail  joined.  The 
young  fellow  turned  and  waved  his  cap  again, 
and  then  disappeared  through  the  nearest  port- 
hole, a  sailor  throwing  a  small  bundle  after  him. 
Almost  before  he  had  seized  the  chain-plates  the 
maintop-sail  yard  had  swung  round,  and  the  great 
ship  was  again  bounding  over  the  sea. 

The  boy  threaded,  with  amazing  swiftness,  the 
gangways  and  ladders  of  the  Thunderer,  and 
soon  found  himself  on  the  quarter-deck.  An  of- 
ficer in  an  admiral's  uniform  stood  alone  on  the 
poop,  watching  the  boat  as  it  disappeared  rapidly 
in  the  distance,  while  the  captain  on  the  bridge 
looked  anxiously  towards  the  northwest,  where 
clouds  were  gathering  angrily. 


4  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

The  boy  walked  up  to  the  Admiral,  and,  mak- 
ing a  low  bow,  cap  in  hand,  said, "  This,  I  believe, 
is  Admiral  Kempenfelt." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  answered  the  Admiral. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  report  to  you,  sir.  I  am 
Midshipman  Baskerville,  late  of  the  Continental 
ship  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  afterwards  in 
the  Sera/pis.  I  was  captured  at  the  Texel,  and 
am  on  my  parole.  This  letter  from  Captain 
Lockyer,  of  the  Seahorse,  explains  everything." 

Admiral  Kempenfelt  took  the  letter  which  the 
little  midshipman  handed  him,  and  read : 

"DEAR  SIR,— This  will  be  handed  you  by  Midshipman 
Baskerville,  a  young  rebel  lately  in  revolt  against  his  Maj- 
esty, and  lately  acting  midshipman  with  that  traitor  and 
pirate,  Paul  Jones.  After  Jones  reached  the  Texel  in  the 
Serapis,  we  kept,  you  may  be  sure,  a  close  watch  upon  him, 
and  the  Seahorse,  with  eleven  other  ships  of  the  line  and 
frigates,  cruised  outside  waiting  for  him.  But  will  you  be- 
lieve, my  dear  Admiral,  that  this  little  midshipman  is  all  the 
game  we  have  bagged  so  far  ;  and  he  was  caught  by  his  own 
imprudence  in  going  off  on  a  fishing  excursion,  when  a  boat's 
crew  of  the  Seatiorsc  nabbed  him  just  as  he  got  ashore  ?  I 
received  orders  to  the  Mediterranean,  and  so  hand  this  young- 
ster over  to  you  to  take  to  England.  He  is  the  grandson  and 
heir  of  your  eccentric  friend  Lord  Bellingham,  of  Bellingham 
Castle,  Yorkshire.  His  father  quarrelled  with  his  grand- 
father, went  to  North  America,  and  turned  red-hot  rebel. 
This  boy,  being  left  an  orphan,  was  seduced  by  Jones  to  join 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION  5 

him,  although  he  swears  he  begged  Jones  to  take  him,  and 
would  follow  Jones  all  over  the  world  and  beyond.  You  see, 
my  dear  sir,  that  it  would  be  a  very  good  thing  if  we  could 
bring  this  youth  to  a  sense  of  his  duty  to  the  King  ;  and  as 
he  is  a  lad  of  parts  and  spirit,  I  would  be  glad  to  see  him  in 
his  grandfather's  good  graces.  I  intended  to  send  him  to 
England  on  his  parole  at  the  first  opportunity  ;  but  blast  me 
if  I  have  met  a  ship  going  home  since  I  took  him  aboard  in 
October  until  now.  I  venture  to  hand  him  over  to  you,  hav- 
ing given  him  orders  to  report  at  once  to  his  grandfather 
when  you  land.  This  has  been  an  infernal  cruise,  and  if  we 
have  ten  shillings  apiece  prize-money,  it  will  be  more  than  I 
expect.  With  best  wishes,  believe  me,  my  dear  sir, 
"Your  very  sincere  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

"RALPH  LOCKYER." 

While  the  reading  of  this  letter  was  going  on, 
Archy  Baskerville  stood  in  an  easy  but  respectful 
attitude.  There  were  a  number  of  officers  on 
deck  who  looked  at  him  curiously,  but  he  seemed 
to  see  no  one.  His  eyes  followed  the  course  of 
the  Seahorse ,  now  growing  rapidly  smaller  and 
fainter  in  the  fading  light,  and  again  they  filled 
with  tears.  He  had  been  a  prisoner,  it  is  true, 
on  board  of  her,  but  a  prisoner  kindly  treated ;  and 
he  had  one  friend — Langton,  the  midshipman, 
who  had  brought  the  boat  to  the  Thunderer — 
whom  he  dearly  loved.  Should  they  ever  meet 
again  ?  He  was  roused  from  his  reverie  by  Ad- 
miral Kempenfelt  saying  to  him : 


6  THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

"  Do  you  know  the  contents  of  this  letter,  sir?" 

"  No,  sir." 

"  I  find  you  are  the  grandson  of  my  old  friend 
Lord  Bellingham — his  heir,  so  Captain  Lockyer 
writes  me." 

Something  like  a  grin  appeared  on  Archy's 
handsome  face. 

"Hardly,  sir.  My  father  joined  with  my 
grandfather  in  cutting  the  entail,  and  I  cannot 
get  the  estates ;  and  I  cannot  use  the  title,  as  I 
am  an  American  citizen." 

"  A  what  ?"  snapped  Admiral  Kempenfelt. 

Now,  this  young  gentleman,  Archy  Basker- 
ville,  had  a  reprehensible  quality  very  common  in 
youth.  He  liked  to  be  as  exasperating  as  he 
dared,  and  having  devoted  most  of  his  time  on 
the  Seahorse  to  finding  out  how  far  he  could  pre- 
sume on  his  position  as  a  prisoner  of  war,  he  only 
smiled  sweetly  up  into  the  Admiral's  face  and 
repeated,  blandly : 

"  A  citizen  of  the  United  States,  sir." 

The  Admiral  glared  at  him  for  a  moment,  and 
then,  his  countenance  softening,  he  put  his  hand 
kindly  on  Archy's  shoulder,  saying,  as  if  he  were 
addressing  a  ten-year-old  boy : 

"  Come,  come,  my  lad ;  let  us  have  no  more  of 
that.  You  are  young ;  you  are  misguided ;  you 


THE    ROCK    OF    THE    LION  7 

have  a  splendid  destiny  before  you  in  England, 
and  the  vagaries  of  a  mere  lad  like  you,  exposed 
to  the  seductions  of  a  plausible  fellow  like  that 
pirate  Jones,  will  be  easily  overlooked  if  you  re- 
turn to  your  allegiance  to  your  King  and  country." 

During  this  speech  a  deep  red  had  overspread 
Archy's  countenance,  but  his  quick  wits  had  not 
deserted  him. 

"  Sir,"  he  said,  straightening  up  his  boyish  fig- 
ure, "  a  prisoner  of  war  is  subject  to  many  temp- 
tations to  betray  his  cause ;  but  I  did  not  think 
that  Admiral  Kempenfelt  would  suggest  that  I 
should  turn  traitor,  and,  what  is  harder  to  bear, 
should  insult  my  late  commander,  Commodore 
Paul  Jones,  when  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  resent 
it." 

If  Archy  had  turned  red  the  Admiral  turned 
scarlet.  His  eyes  and  his  teeth  snapped  at  the 
same  time,  and,  wheeling  round,  he  abruptly 
walked  to  the  end  of  the  poop  and  back  again, 
his  heels  hitting  the  deck  hard  and  his  hands 
twitching  behind  his  back.  The  officers  standing 
within  hearing  had  difficulty  in  keeping  their 
countenances,  but  Archy,  smooth  and  unruffled, 
was  like  a  May  morning.  The  Admiral  again 
turned  and  came  back  towards  him.  The  notion 
of  that  youngster  giving  himself  the  airs  of  a 


8  THE   ROCK    OF    THE    LION 

post-captain !  thought  the  Admiral.  The  mast- 
head was  the  only  place  for  him,  and  yet  the 
brat  was  sharp  enough  to  know  all  he  was  en- 
titled to  as  a  prisoner  of  war  and  to  claim  it. 

The  Admiral  made  two  more  turns ;  then  he 
came  up  close  to  Archy,  and  with  the  gleam  of  a 
smile  said : 

"  May  I  have  the  pleasure  of  your  company  in 
my  cabin  at  supper  to-night,  Mr.  "What's-your- 
name  ?" 

"  With  pleasure,  sir,"  replied  Archy,  promptly, 
"  provided,  of  course,  that  you  make  no  efforts  to 
corrupt  my  loyalty,  and  say  nothing  disrespectful 
of  my  late  commander." 

Had  the  great  main-mast  tumbled  over  the  side 
at  that  moment,  the  Admiral  could  not  have  been 
more  amazed.  He  opened  his  mouth  to  speak, 
and  was  too  astounded  to  shut  it.  He  looked  at 
Archy  carefully  from  the  crown  of  his  curly  head 
to  the  soles  of  his  well -shaped  feet — for  the 
boy  was  elegantly  made  and  bright-faced  and 
handsome  beyond  the  common.  Archy  bore  the 
scrutiny  without  flinching.  As  for  the  officers, 
who  were  on-lookers,  a  universal  grin  went  round, 
and  one  midshipman  giggled  outright. 

Suddenly  there  was  a  sharp  order  and  a  rush 
of  feet  along  the  deck.  The  light  had  died  out 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION  9 

as  if  by  magic ;  sea  and  sky  turned  black,  except 
a  corner  on  the  northwest  horizon,  where  an 
ominous  pale-green  light  played  upon  fast-gath- 
ering clouds,  and  the  wind  rose  with  a  shriek. 
The  men  swarmed  up  the  rigging  to  take  in 
sail,  and  they  were  not  a  moment  too  soon. 
Every  person  on  deck  immediately  found  some- 
thing to  do  except  Admiral  Kempenfelt  and 
Archy  Baskerville.  The  Admiral  walked  up  and 
down,  glancing  coolly  around,  but  making  no 
suggestions.  Archy  leaned  against  the  swifter 
of  the  mizzen-rigging,  and  his  keen  young  eyes 
caught  the  last  glimpse  of  the  Seahorse  as  she 
disappeared — a  mere  speck  in  the  darkness.  The 
inky  clouds  came  down  like  a  curtain  upon  the 
lion-like  Rock,  and  the  air  itself  seemed  to  turn 
black.  And  then  came  the  storm. 

The  Thunderer,  under  storm  canvas,  did  bat- 
tle with  the  tempest  for  two  days  and  nights. 
Driven  by  mighty  blasts,  she  staggered  upon  her 
course,  descending  into  gulfs  and  then  rising 
mountain  high  until  it  seemed  as  if  her  tall  masts 
would  meet  the  low-hanging  pall  of  clouds.  Her 
guns  broke  loose,  and  on  all  three  of  her  decks 
these  huge  masses  of  brass  and  iron  were  pitched 
about  to  the  danger  of  life  and  limb.  Her  stout 
masts  and  spars  bent  like  whips.  Violent  gusts  of 


10  THE   EOCK   OF   THE   LION 

rain  came  with  the  scream  of  the  tempest.  Her 
men,  drenched  to  the  bone,  nearly  swept  off  their 
feet  by  the  great  hissing  and  roaring  masses 
of  water  that  fell  upon  the  deck,  knocked  over, 
slipping  up,  falling  down  hatchways,  sleepless  and 
hungry,  suffered  all  the  dangers  and  miseries  of 
one  of  the  most  frightful  storms  of  the  century ; 
yet  they  never  lost  heart.  The  officers,  from  the 
captain  down  to  the  smallest  midshipman,  were 
cool,  and  apparent!}7  confident  that  the  Thunderer 
could  weather  the  storm ;  and  as  in  the  begin- 
ning, so  to  the  end,  there  were  but  two  persons 
on  the  ship  who  did  nothing — Admiral  Kempen- 
felt  and  the  little  American  prisoner  of  war, 
Archy  Baskerville ;  and  in  coolness  and  apparent 
indifference  it  is  hard  to  tell  which  excelled — the 
seasoned  Admiral  or  the  young  midshipman. 

Neither  the  boy's  spirit,  nor  even  his  sly  im- 
pertinence, had  injured  him  in  Admiral  Kempen- 
felt's  opinion,  and  Archy's  courage  during  those 
terrible  two  days  was  not  overlooked.  The  Ad- 
miral felt  an  interest  in  the  boy,  from  his  long 
acquaintance  with  Lord  Bellingham,  and  he 
thought  it  a  pity  that  the  heir  to  a  great  title 
and  noble  estates  should  throw  them  away  by 
what  the  Admiral  considered  rank  rebellion  ;  but 
it  was  Archy's  own  fearless  spirit  that  won  him 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  11 

the  Admiral's  respect.  On  that  first  dreadful 
night  there  was  no  pretence  of  serving  supper ; 
but,  to  the  Admiral's  mingled  disgust  and  amuse- 
ment, at  seven  o'clock  Archy  tumbled  into  the 
great  cabin,  where  he  found  the  Admiral  seated 
with  a  soup -tureen  between  his  knees,  out  of 
which  he  was  ladling  pea -soup  into  his  mouth 
with  great  good-will,  but  indifferent  success. 

"  Ah,  here  you  are,  Mr.  Baskerville,"  called  out 
the  Admiral,  who  knew  what  a  midshipman's 
appetite  was,  and  supposed  that  Archy  had 
shrewdly  calculated  on  a  good  supper.  "  Sorry 
I  can't  order  my  steward  to  help  you ;  but  in 
that  last  lurch  the  ship  gave  he  was  pitched 
head-foremost  over  the  table,  and  knocked  out 
three  teeth  and  blacked  his  eye — so  he  is  now 
under  the  surgeon's  care.  But  if  you  will 
kindly  help  yourself  to  that  bowl —  Oh,  Ju- 
piter !" 

The  Thunderer  nearly  went  on  her  beam-ends, 
and  so  did  the  tureen.  Archy,  showing  a  very 
good  pair  of  sea-legs,  secured  the  bowl  from  a 
mass  of  broken  crockery  in  the  locker,  and,  pre- 
senting it,  the  Admiral  filled  it  with  pea-soup, 
only  spilling  about  half. 

"Excuse  me,  sir,"  said  Archy,  and  plumped 
down  flat  on  the  floor,  where,  with  the  greatest 


12  THE    KOCK    OF   THE    LION 

dexterity,  he  conveyed  all  the  soup  in  the  bowl 
to  his  mouth. 

"  Any  casualties  on  deck  since  I  left  ?"  asked 
the  Admiral. 

"  No,  sir.  The  fact  is " — here  the  ship  righted 
herself  with  a  suddenness  that  threw  Archy's 
heels  almost  into  the  Admiral's  face — "I  don't 
think  it  much  of  a  blow." 

The  Admiral  stopped  his  ladling  for  a  moment 
and  looked  the  boy  in  the  eye  very  hard. 

Archy  felt  emboldened  to  indulge  in  a  little 
more  boyish  braggadocio,  and  remarked,  airily : 

"  That  is,  there's  nothing  alarming  in  the  blow, 
sir.  It  was  blowing  harder  than  this  when  we 
made  the  Texel  in  the  Serapis" 

"Young  man,"  answered  the  Admiral,  "you 
never  saw  it  blow  as  hard  as  this  in  your  life, 
and  you  never  may  again." 

Archy,  somewhat  abashed,  said  nothing,  and 
had  the  grace  to  blush;  but  spying  a  loaf  of 
bread  rolling  under  the  transom,  he  crawled 
after  it,  secured  it,  and  handed  it  to  the  Ad- 
miral. 

"Informal,  but  very  welcome,"  was  the  Ad- 
miral's remark  as  he  divided  the  loaf  and  gave 
Archy  half.  "As  long  as  this  keeps  up,  Mr. 
Baskerville,  you  may  as  well  accept  the  hospital- 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  13 

ity  of  my  cabin,  such  as  it  is.  I  hardly  suppose 
any  one  has  thought  of  slinging  you  a  hammock, 
and  you  couldn't  stay  in  it  if  you  had  it ;  but 
there  is  the  floor,  and  here  is  a  pillow." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  said  Archy. 

"  Have  you  ever  seen  your  grandfather,  Lord 
Bellingham?" 

"  No,  sir." 

The  Admiral  gave  a  short  laugh. 

"  I  should  like  to  see  your  meeting." 

Something  in  the  Admiral's  kind  face  gave  en- 
couragement to  Archy,  and  he  replied,  "  I  hope 
he  will  receive  me  kindly,  but  I  ask  no  favors  of 
him.  As  a  prisoner  of  war,  I  am  sure  to  be  taken 
care  of,  since  Commodore  Jones  has  obtained  for 
us  sea-officers  the  rights  of  prisoners  of  war,  such 
as  the  land  officers  have  had  all  the  time.  Is  my 
grandfather  very — very — dreadful  ?" 

"  He  is  a  man  of  sense  and  honor,  but  he  is 
very  eccentric.  I  have  known  him  for  forty 
years.  Excuse  me  now,  Mr.  Baskerville,  I  am 
going  on  deck.  I  need  not  ask  you  to  make 
yourself  at  home."  The  Admiral  smiled  at  this 
— he  thought  Archy  needed  very  slight  invita- 
tion to  do  that. 

All  night  the  tempest  raged.  At  midnight, 
when  it  was  at  its  worst,  the  Admiral  came  be- 


14  THB   ROOK   OF   THE   LION 

low  for  a  moment.  There  were  no  lights,  but 
by  striking  his  flint  he  saw  a  lithe,  boyish  figure 
on  the  floor,  cunningly  lashed  to  the  transom,  as 
was  the  pillow,  and  Archy  was  sleeping  like  a 
baby. 

"  The  little  beggar  is  no  coward,"  thought  the 
Admiral,  a  smile  lighting  up  his  face. 

Next  day  and  next  night  it  was  the  same.  The 
Admiral  noticed  many  things  in  that  mortal 
struggle  of  the  great  ship  with  all  the  powers  of 
destruction,  and  among  them  were  the  different 
kinds  and  degrees  of  courage  displayed  by  the 
officers  and  men.  Not  one  showed  fear,  although 
each  was  conscious  of  the  immediate  and  awful 
danger,  but  some  bore  the  strain  better  than 
others.  There  was  not  one  who  stood  it  more 
calmly,  more  debonairly,  than  the  little  American 
midshipman. 

At  sunrise  on  the  third  day,  when  the  storm 
passed  off  to  the  eastward,  they  found  themselves 
near  a  rocky  headland  that  jutted  out  into  the 
sea.  The  sun  shone  brightly,  but  the  sea  was 
still  angry,  and  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  was 
wreckage.  One  glance  on  the  rocks  showed  them 
the  wreck  of  the  Seahorse.  Her  masts  and  spars 
were  gone,  and  the  hulk  rose  and  fell  helplessly 
with  the  violence  of  the  waves.  Archy  was  lean- 


THE   EOCK   OF   THE    LION  15 

ing  sadly  over  the  rail  when  he  saw  an  object 
floating  nearer  that  he  recognized,  with  a  sick- 
ening dread,  as  that  of  a  man's  body.  It  was 
swept  shoreward  under  the  very  lee  of  the  Thun- 
derer. As  it  shot  past,  Archy  uttered  a  cry.  The 
morning  light  had  revealed  the  pale  face  of  his 
best  friend  Langton.  Another  cry  went  up  from 
the  men  on  the  Thunderer's  deck  as  they  watched 
the  ghastly  sight.  But  at  that  very  moment 
they  had  all  they  could  do  to  claw  off  the  land 
and  save  the  Thunderer  from  the  fate  of  the  Sea- 
horse. It  was  some  days  before  the  wind  per- 
mitted them  to  return  to'the  scene  of  the  wreck, 
and  they  found  not  a  vestige  of  the  gallant  ship 
or  her  brave  company. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  Comet  coach,  from  London  to  York,  left 
the  Angel  Inn,  on  the  borders  of  Yorkshire,  at 
three  o'clock  in  the  November  afternoon,  on  the 
last  stage  of  the  journey. 

It  was  bitterly  cold,  and  the  low -hanging 
clouds  held  snow.  Inside  the  tavern  parlor  the 
passengers  hugged  the  fire  and  looked  dismally 
out  of  the  small-paned  windows  on  the  court- 
yard at  the  coach,  to  which  the  horses  were 
being  put,  while  the  coachman,  taking  his  last 
nip  from  a  pewter  pot  at  the  kitchen  window, 
chaffed  the  bar -maid  and  playfully  flecked 
his  whip  at  the  postilion  busy  with  the  horses 
near  by. 

Among  the  passengers  lingering  around  the 
fire  was  Archy  Baskerville.  He  still  wore  his 
uniform,  which  had  grown  excessively  shabby ; 
but  he  was  not  without  money.  He  had  engaged 
the  box-seat,  and  had  paid  for  it  in  a  lordly  man- 
ner, showing,  meanwhile,  with  boyish  vanity  and 
imprudence,  a  handsome  rouleau  of  gold.  He 


THE   BOOK   OF   THE    LION  17 

had  a  very  handsome  new  cloak  of  dark -blue 
camlet,  elegantly  lined,  and  with  a  fur  collar;  and 
his  seedy  knee-breeches  were  ornamented  with  a 
costly  pair  of  buckles. 

The  singular  contrast  in  his  dress  could  not 
fail  to  excite  remark.  An  individual  known  as 
a  bagman  began  to  chaff  him,  while  the  other 
passengers  listened  and  smiled. 

"  Wot's  the  matter  with  your  clothes,  young 
man?  Did  you  kill  a  French  captain  in  that 
'ere  suit — as  you  won't  change  it  ?" 

Archy  disdained  to  reply  to  this,  and,  wrap- 
ping his  handsome  cloak  around  him,  produced  a 
pair  of  pistols — not  the  great  horse-pistols  of  the 
day,  but  of  the  kind  used  by  officers ;  then  he 
tightened  the  belt  of  the  sword  he  wore,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  in  those  days — all  with  an  air 
of  nonchalance  that  would  have  suited  a  man  of 
twice  his  age. 

A  pert  young  woman  in  a  hat  and  feathers, 
and  travelling  alone,  then  began : 

"  La,  me !  Have  we  got  to  travel  in  company 
with  them  pistols?  Sure,  they'll  go  off,  little 
boy,  and  then  we'll  all  be  weltering  in  our 
blood." 

A  flush  of  anger  rose  to  Archy's  cheek  at  this, 
but  he  wisely  held  his  peace.  His  eye  fell,  how- 


18  THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION 

ever,  upon  a  gentleman  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  fireplace,  who  was  wrapped  in  a  cloak  much 
larger  and  heavier  than  Archy's,  and  who,  like 
him,  was  examining  the  flints  of  a  pair  of  pistols 
— and  the  gentleman  also  wore  a  military  s^vord. 
He  was  tall  and  thin,  and  had  the  carriage  of  a 
soldier.  His  face  was  sallow,  and  far  from  hand- 
some, but  his  eyes  were  full  of  kindness  and 
intelligence,  and  as  they  met  Archy's  a  subtle 
sympathy  was  established  between  them.  Archy 
guessed,  shrewdly,  that  the  military  gentleman 
was  an  Indian  officer. 

The  bagman  soon  returned  to  the  charge. 

"  Where's  the  footman  as  has  charge  o'  you  ?" 
he  asked. 

"  I  had  not  thought  of  engaging  a  footman," 
responded  Archy,  coolly ;  "  but  if  you  are  look- 
ing for  a  place,  perhaps  I  might  take  you.  What 
sort  of  a  character  can  you  get  from  your  last 
master?" 

A  roar  of  laughter,  in  which  the  officer  joined 
to  the  extent  of  a  smile,  greeted  this,  and  the 
young  woman  called  out : 

"  Bless  'is  'art !  I  knew  he  must  'ave  a  good 
'art  under  that  'andsome  cloak !" 

The  blowing  of  a  bugle  by  the  guard  at  the 
door  broke  up  the  conversation.  The  discomfited 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  19 

bagman  made  first  for  the  coach,  and  the  young 
woman  with  the  hat  and  feathers  bolted  after  him. 
A  sweet-faced,  elderly  Quakeress  and  a  hand- 
some young  Oxford  student  followed.  Archy 
came  next,  and  the  officer  held  back  a  moment 
to  speak  to  him. 

"  I  observe,  sir,"  he  said,  politely,  "  you  wear 
a  blue  naval  uniform,  but  it  is  unlike  that  of  our 
service — at  least,  any  that  I  have  seen,  but  I 
have  been  long  absent  from  England." 

"  This  is  an  American  uniform,  sir,"  responded 
Archy,  politely.  "  I  am  a  prisoner  of  war  on  my 
parole  and  entitled  to  wear  it.  I  served  with 
Commodore  Jones  on  the  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
and  was  captured  through  my  own  imprudence 
when  we  made  the  Texel  on  our  return  from 
the  cruise  in  which  we  captured  the  Serapis." 

At  this  a  slight  but  marked  change  came 
over  the  officer,  and  after  a  moment  he  said, 
coldly: 

"  You  will  pardon  me  for  saying  there  is  very 
great  imprudence,  and  even  danger,  in  your  wear- 
ing that  uniform  in  England." 

"  Perhaps  so,"  replied  Archy,  quickly  adopting 
the  same  reserved  tone,  "  but  it  is  as  honorable 
as  any  uniform  in  the  world,  and  I  shall  continue 
to  wear  it.  I  observe  that  English  officers  on 


20  THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION 

their  parole  in  France  wear  their  uniform  and  are 
not  molested." 

The  officer  passed  on  without  speaking  a  word, 
and,  courteously  assisting  the  Quaker  lady  into 
the  coach,  stepped  in  after  her,  while  Archy 
climbed  up  on  the  box-seat.  The  steps  were  put 
up,  the  door  banged  to,  the  guard  winded  his 
horn,  the  coachman  cracked  his  whip,  the  four 
horses  dashed  forward,  and  with  a  lurch  and  a 
roar  little  inferior  to  the  Thunderer's  in  a  gale  of 
wind,  the  Comet  started  upon  its  journey. 

The  afternoon  was  dreary,  and  the  wintry  sun 
shone  fitfully  upon  the  vast  moorlands  through 
which  the  post-road,  like  a  serpent,  wound  its 
way.  The  wind  was  cutting,  and  Archy  shivered 
in  spite  of  his  great  furred  cape.  The  dreariness 
of  the  landscape  affected  him,  and,  as  he  had  done 
many  times  since  that  unlucky  day  off  the  Texel, 
he  felt  sad  at  heart.  He  had  left  the  Thunderer 
with  regret  at  Spithead  on  her  arrival.  He  had 
been  kindly  treated,  especially  by  Admiral  Kem- 
penfelt,  and,  although  he  had  made  no  friend  like 
Langton,  he  had  found  good  comradeship  in  the 
gun-room  of  the  Thunderer.  Before  sending 
him  ashore,  Admiral  Kempenfelt  had  talked  with 
him  kindly,  and  had  advised  him  to  go  to  his 
grandfather  at  Bellingham  Castle  and  there  await 


THE    ROOK   OF   THE   LION  21 

his  exchange.  The  Admiral  had  strong  hopes  that, 
under  certain  influences,  Archy  would  return,  as 
the  Admiral  called  it,  to  his  King  and  country ; 
but  he  forbore  to  urge  it,  seeing  in  the  boy  a  spirit 
that  was  quick  to  resent  any  fancied  dishonor. 
He  had  supplied  Archy  liberally  with  money, 
saying  to  him  at  the  time :  "  This  will  not  be  too 
much  in  case  Lord  Bellingham  refuses  to  see  you; 
for,  mark  you,  my  lad,  you  have  a  queer  case  for 
a  grandfather,  and  what  he  will  do  only  himself 
and  God  Almighty  know,  so  you  had  better  be 
prepared  for  emergencies.  However,  I  think  you 
can  take  care  of  yourself.  Good-bye,  and  good 
luck  to  you !" 

Those  were  the  last  kind  words  Archy  had 
heard.  In  London,  being  no  wiser  than  any 
other  harum-scarum  midshipman  who  found  his 
pockets  full,  for  the  first  time,  Master  Archy  had 
treated  himself  with  great  liberality.  The  play- 
houses, several  cock-fights,  excursions  by  land 
and  water,  and  a  showy  outfit  had  consumed 
Archy's  week  in  London  and  Admiral  Kempen- 
felt's  money,  except  the  one  rouleau  of  gold,  which 
he  exhibited  as  if  he  had  a  bank  vault  full  of 
them.  The  subject  of  his  finances  deeply  engaged 
Archy's  attention  as  the  Comet  plunged  along 
the  dreary  road  in  the  fast-gathering  gloom.  Oc- 


22  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

casionally  they  stopped  to  take  up  or  let  off  pas- 
sengers, but  at  the  last  stage — a  small  village 
\vhere  they  changed  horses — Archy  observed 
that  they  had  exactly  the  same  complement  with 
which  they  had  started — the  officer,  the  student, 
the  bagman,  the  Quakeress,  and  the  pert  young 
woman. 

As  they  dashed  up  to  the  door  of  a  small  and 
uninviting  inn  about  dark,  the  landlord  bustled 
out  with  a  candle  in  his  hand,  and,  addressing  the 
coachman  in  a  loud  voice  meant  for  the  passen- 
gers, began : 

"Have  you  heard  the  news?  The  coach  re- 
turning by  Barham  Heath  was  stopped  last  night 
about  this  time  and  every  single  shilling  taken 
from  the  passengers.  If  the  ladies  and  gentle- 
men feels  squeamish  about  going  on  to-night,  I 
can  give  them  good  beds — excellent  beds.  The 
Bishop  of  Carlisle  slept  here  a  week  ago,  and  his 
lordship  was  pleased  to  say  he  slept  well.  And 
I  have  lately  brewed.  His  lordship  liked  the  brew 
exceedingly — " 

A  shriek  from  the  pert  young  woman  inter- 
rupted this. 

"  O-o-o-h !"  she  screamed.  "  One  of  them  dread- 
ful highwaymen !  I  understand  as  they  frequent- 
ly kisses  the  ladies  besides  robbing  them.  Pray, 


THE    BOCK   OF   THE    LION  23 

Mr.  Landlord,  did  you  hear  as  any  of  the  ladies 
was  kissed  ?" 

"  Don't  know,  ma'am,"  replied  the  landlord, 
with  a  grin,  "  but  if  you  meets  a  highwayman, 
and  axes  him — " 

"  None  of  your  impudence,  sir,"  tartly  re- 
sponded the  young  woman.  "  My  sister's  hus- 
band is  cousin  to  one  of  the  aldermen  at  Car- 
lisle, and  if  you  don't  behave  yourself  respectful 
to  me  I'll  have  your  license  took  away!"  At 
which  landlord,  passengers,  postilions,  and  stable- 
boys  united  in  laughing  —  the  coachman  only 
maintaining  a  stolid  gravity. 

While  the  horses  were  being  put  to,  the  pas- 
sengers went  into  the  tap-room  to  warm  them- 
selves, all  except  Archy  and  the  officer.  Just 
as  Archy  was  stretching  his  legs  in  a  brisk  walk 
before  the  tavern  door,  to  his  surprise  the  offi- 
cer stepped  up  to  him. 

"  Sir,"  said  he,  "  I  perceive  that,  like  myself, 
you  have  pistols.  Now,  the  instant  I  put  my 
eyes  on  our  coachman  I  thought  I  recognized 
a  man  whom  I  had  seen  tried  for  robbery  and 
acquitted  at  the  Old  Bailey  for  lack  of  evidence ; 
and  I  am  willing  to  credit  him  with  being  a  ras- 
cal of  the  first  water,  and  I  should  not  be  sur- 
prised if  he  proves  it  before  we  get  to  the  end  of 


24  THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

our  journey.  We  may  have  to  look  to  our  arms, 
perhaps." 

"  Mine  will  be  found  in  good  order,  sir,"  re- 
sponded Archy,  greatly  pleased  to  be  so  ad- 
dressed by  a  military  man  so  much  older  than 
himself,  and  to  whom  he  had  felt  a  strong  and 
instant  attraction. 

"  May  I  ask  how  far  you  are  going  ?"  inquired 
the  officer. 

"To  the  village  of  Bellingham.  My  grand- 
father lives  at  the  Castle." 

The  two  were  standing  in  the  light  of  a  lan- 
tern hung  from  the  tavern  porch,  and  Archy  saw 
a  start  of  surprise  on  the  officer's  part.  He  was 
silent  for  a  moment  or  two,  and,  in  spite  of  the 
habitual  self-possession  which  was  visibly  a  part 
of  his  nature,  he  did  not  recover  himself  at  once ; 
and  when  he  spoke  Archy  felt  a  change  in  the 
tone  and  manner  of  his  new  acquaintance. 

"  All  danger  will  be  passed  as  soon  as  we  reach 
Bellingham.  Our  young  Oxford  friend  has  a 
sword  and  the  bagman  a  stout  stick,  but  pistols 
are  the  weapons  against  highway -robbers.  I 
am  glad  you  have  yours — and  keep  your  eye  on 
the  coachman." 

"  Don't  you  think,  sir,"  said  Archy,  eagerly, 
"  that  we  had  better  keep  our  pistols  out  of 


THE   ROCK   OF  THE    LION  35 

sight  as  far  as  possible  ?    For  if  they  see  we  are 
armed  they  may  not  attack  us." 

"  My  dear  sir,"  answered  the  officer,  petu- 
lantly, "  you  speak  as  if  to  be  held  up  by  high- 
waymen was  a  privilege  to  be  sought,  not  a 
danger  to  be  avoided.  I  am  afraid  you  are  a 
hot-headed  young  man." 

"  The  fact  is,"  was  Archy's  half -sheepish  and 
half-triumphant  reply,  "I  like  to  see  life — and 
you  know,  sir,  to  be  stopped  on  the  road  by  a 
determined  Claude  Duval  kind  of  a  fellow  is 
rather  er— " 

"  Pleasant,"  sarcastically  suggested  the  officer ; 
"  deuced  pleasant.  I  have  often  observed  of  you 
youngsters  that  to  tell  you  that  a  thing  is  dan- 
gerous is  generally  to  put  a  premium  on  your 
doing  it.  And  when  it  is  foolish,  besides — zounds, 
there's  no  holding  you  back!  But  let  me  tell 
you,  Mr.  Midshipman,  when  you  have  had  my 
share  of  hard  knocks  you  will  be  a  little  more 
willing  to  keep  out  of  them  than  you  are  now. 
For  my  part,  I  hope  this  tattling  landlord  is 
lying,  and  this  rascally  coachman  has  turned 
honest  man.  Meanwhile,  keep  your  eyes  open." 

By  that  time  the  horses  were  put  to,  and  the 
guard's  horn  summoned  the  passengers  to  get  in, 
and  the  Comet  started  off. 


26  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

The  first  few  miles  lay  through  the  same  flat, 
moorland  country  they  had  previously  traversed, 
but  presently  they  entered  a  straggling  wood,  with 
a  hedge  and  ditch  on  both  sides.  It  was  now 
perfectly  dark,  except  for  the  moon  occasionally 
struggling  through  the  clouds.  Within  the  coach, 
the  Oxonian,  a  waggish  fellow,  was  amusing  him- 
self with  telling  blood-curdling  tales  to  the  gen- 
tle Quakeress  and  the  young  woman,  which  last 
took  refuge  in  groans  and  smelling  salts,  and 
vowed  if  she  ever  reached  Carlisle  again  she 
would  never  more  trust  herself  on  the  road.  The 
officer,  who  had  been  vexed  by  Archy's  light- 
hearted  seeking  of  danger,  was  still  more  an- 
noyed by  the  young  Oxonian's  malicious  amuse- 
ment, and  he  therefore  turned  courteously  to  the 
placid  Quakeress,  saying : 

"Pray  do  not  be  alarmed,  madam;  we  can 
take  perfectly  good  care  of  ourselves  and  of  the 
ladies,  too." 

"  Friend,"  mildly  answered  the  Quakeress,  "  I 
thank  thee,  and  I  am  no  more  frightened  by  the 
tales  this  young  gentleman  is  telling  than  by  the 
shadows  that  children  make  upon  the  wall  to  divert 
themselves,  and  sometimes  to  annoy  their  elders." 

The  Oxonian  took  this  rebuke  in  good  part, 
while  the  bagman  burst  out  with : 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION  27 

"  I  am  glad  the  military  gentleman  thinks  us 
safe ;  not  that  I  be  afeerd.  I  have  travelled  the 
roads  of  England  for  ten  year  with  nothing  for 
arms  but  this  stick  with  a  loaded  handle,  and  I 
believe  it  has  frightened  off  more  robbers  than 
any  pair  of  pistols  in  England.  You  see,  ladies 
and  gentlemen,"  he  continued,  flourishing  his 
stick  under  the  officer's  nose,  to  that  gentleman's 
intense  disgust,  "it  is  all  to  nothing  how  you 
meets  robbers.  Seeing  a  bold,  determined  feller 
like  me — I  have  been  took  for  a  officer,  I  have, 
many  a  time — they'll  lose  heart  at  the  sight 
and  screech  out — oh,  Lord!  oh,  Lord!" — for  at 
that  moment  the  coach  stopped  with  a  jerk,  a 
dark  figure  rose  up  from  the  ground  on  the  other 
side  of  the  coach,  and  the  cold  muzzle  of  a  long 
horse-pistol  was  within  an  inch  of  the  bagman's 
nose,  who  instantly  began  to  bawl  for  mercy  at 
the  top  of  his  lungs.  At  the  same  moment  a 
man  on  horseback  leaped  the  hedge,  and,  rushing 
at  the  coach,  levelled  another  pistol  at  the  guard's 
head,  who  immediately  tumbled  off  on  the  ground 
and  threw  up  his  hands.  The  robber,  seeing  there 
was  no  fight  in  the  guard,  while  the  coachman 
sat  quite  passive,  promptly  turned  his  attention 
to  Archy.  But  a  surprise  was  in  store  for  him. 
The  pistol  was  knocked  from  his  hand  and  he 


28  THE    KOOK   OF   THE    LION 

himself  was  looking  down  the  muzzle  of  one — 
not  so  large  but  quite  as  effective — in  the  hands 
of  Archy  Baskerville. 

"  Dismo.unt !"  said  Archy. 

The  robber,  with  a  rapid  motion,  threw  him- 
self from  his  horse  on  the  side  opposite  to  Archy, 
and,  with  a  spring,  tried  to  regain  his  pistol. 
But  Archy,  tumbling  off  the  box,  was  too  quick 
for  him.  He  kicked  the  pistol  into  the  ditch,  and 
still  covered  the  highwayman  with  his  own  weap- 
on. The  horse  in  the  meantime  had  broken  away 
for  a  short  distance,  but,  apparently  well  trained, 
stood  in  the  half-darkness  trembling  in  every 
limb,  but  holding  his  ground.  The  highwayman, 
with  a  glance  behind  him,  made  a  dash  for  the 
horse  and  bounded  into  the  saddle.  Archy  was 
at  him  in  a  moment,  and  as  a  shot  rang  out  from 
the  other  side  of  the  coach,  Archy  fired  straight 
at  the  highwayman  at  short  range.  But,  close  as 
he  was,  he  missed  fire.  He  ran  forward  and  fired 
again  just  as  the  horse  was  rising  to  take  the 
ditch,  but  the  highwayman,  bending  down  to  his 
horse's  neck,  took  both  hedge  and  ditch  at  a  leap 
and  disappeared  in  the  darkness. 

Chagrined  and  excited,  Archy  ran  to  the  other 
door  of  the  coach,  where  a  scuffle  was  going  on. 
The  bagman  lay  on  his  back  bellowing  like  a  calf. 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION  29 

The  young  woman  added  her  shrieks  to  the  up- 
roar. The  Quakeress  sat  in  the  coach  as  calm  as 
a  summer  evening,  while  the  officer,  the  Oxonian, 
and  the  guard,  who  had  come  to  his  senses,  were 
struggling  with  a  gigantic  fellow,  who  seemed 
more  than  a  match  for  all  of  them.  Archy,  how- 
ever, coming  up  behind,  laid  hold  of  him,  and  in 
a  few  moments  he  was  disarmed  and  his  hands 
securely  tied.  The  officer  then  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  the  coachman,  who  had  sat  unconcerned 
all  through  the  melee. 

"You  infernal  scoundrel !"  was  the  officer's  first 
words  to  the  coachman.  "  I  shall  deliver  you  up 
along  with  this  fellow  for  highway-robbery.  You 
are  plainly  in  league  with  them  and  by  far  the 
worst  of  the  lot,  as  you  took  pains  to  save  your 
own  skin  while  assisting  these  men  to  rob  and 
perhaps  murder  us." 

The  coachman,  trembling  and  stammering,  at- 
tempted to  defend  himself;  but  the  officer  cut 
him  short  by  directing  Archy  to  mount  the  box 
and  keep  his  pistol  ready.  The  Oxonian  gave  the 
bagman  a  kick. 

"  Get  up,  you  great  calf !  the  danger's  past,  and 
you  can  now  boast  more  of  the  prowess  of  that 
stick  of  yours." 

The  bagman  very  meekly  scrambled  up,  but 


30  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LlOtf 

showed,  when  least  expected,  a  capacity  to  make 
himself  useful.  The  young  woman  had  continued 
screaming  in  spite  of  the  earnest  assurances  of 
all  the  passengers  that  the  danger  was  over,  and 
the  obvious  fact  that  only  one  highwayman  re- 
mained, and  he  was  tied  hand  and  foot. 

"Thee  has  nothing  to  fear,  young  wom- 
an," cried  the  Quakeress,  leaning  out  of  the 
coach. 

"Murder!  murder!"  was  the  answer  yelled  at 
the  top  of  a  pair  of  stout  lungs. 

"  If  it  is  disappointment,  madam,  that  no  at- 
tempt was  made  to  kiss  you — "  began  the  Oxo- 
nian, with  grave  impertinence. 

"  I'll  shut  her  potato  trap,"  suddenly  remarked 
the  bagman.  And,  seizing  her  by  the  back  of 
her  neck,  he  shouted  in  her  ear : 

"  Be  quiet,  hussy !  You  haven't  no  sister  mar- 
ried to  an  alderman's  cousin  in  Carlisle,  and  now 
I  remembers  I  heerd  you  last  month  cryin'  '  Eyes- 
ters '  in  Carlisle  streets,  and  that's  where  you  got 
that  ^ne  voice  o'  yourn,  and  it's  enough  to  wake 
the  dead." 

The  young  woman  responded  by  giving  the 
bagman  a  clip  over  the  ear;  but  she  was  effectually 
silenced,  and  climbed  in  the  coach  to  the  accom- 
paniment of  a  general  smile,  the  bagman  thrust- 


THE    KOCK    OF   THE   LION  31 

ing  his  tongue  into  his  cheek  and  winking  all 
around. 

The  coach  now  started,  the  coachman  main- 
taining a  frightened  silence,  and,  after  travelling 
a  few  miles  more,  reached  the  village  of  Belling- 
ham,  where  the  officer  handed  him  and  the  capt- 
ured robber  over  to  the  constables.  A  crowd  of 
people  surrounded  the  coach,  the  bagman  and 
the  young  woman  volubly  describing  the  dan- 
gers through  which  they  had  passed,  while  the 
Oxonian,  engaging  a  chaise,  soon  disappeared  on 
his  way  to  his  destination,  and  the  Quakeress  re- 
tired to  her  room  at  the  inn.  But  the  first  to  be 
out  of  the  way  were  the  officer  and  Archy  Bas- 
kerville.  As  soon  as  the  constables  had  taken 
charge  of  the  prisoners,  the  officer  came  up  to 
Archy,  and,  pointing  to  a  huge,  dark,  unlighted 
stone  pile  on  a  hill,  set  in  the  midst  of  a  great 
park,  said  to  him,  "  Yonder  is  Bellingham  Cas- 
tle." 

Archy  expected  him  to  say  something  more, 
as  in  parting  from  the  Oxonian  he  had  offered 
his  card  and  expressed  a  wish  to  meet  again, 
coupled  with  a  handsome  acknowledgment  of 
the  young  student's  courage;  but  apparently 
the  officer  thought  he  had  said  enough. 

"Thank  you,  sir,"  replied  Archy,  and  then, 


82  THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

with  a  forced  smile,  he  said,  "  I  am  by  no  means 
sure  of  my  reception.  I  may  be  going  London- 
ward  to-morrow  morning." 

But  the  officer  had  turned  away,  and  Archy, 
his  usually  light  heart  not  so  gay  as  he  would 
have  wished,  struck  out  towards  the  park-gates, 
which  he  saw  in  the  distance  by  the  glimpses  of 
a  cloud-obscured  moon. 

He  trudged  along  in  bitterness  of  spirit  for  a 
time ;  but  before  he  gained  the  crest  of  the  hill 
and  entered  the  broad  carriage-drive  that  led  to 
the  great  arched  entrance  his  spirits  had  recov- 
ered themselves.  After  all,  he  was  seeing  life — 
a  consolation  which  never  failed  to  console  him 
whenever  he  fell  into  adversity.  He  had  almost 
persuaded  himself  that  it  would  be  a  serious  dis- 
advantage to  be  acknowledged  by  his  grandfa- 
ther by  the  time  he  reached  the  door,  when  he 
pulled  a  huge  bell  that  echoed  and  re-echoed 
through  the  great  stone  building.  He  was  deep- 
ly engaged  in  examining,  by  the  light  of  the  em- 
erging moon,  the  square  towers  at  the  corners, 
and  the  ancient  windows,  and  all  the  peculiarities 
of  a  castle  half  modern  and  half  mediaeval,  when 
the  great  door  opened  with  a  crunching  and 
banging  as  if  the  hinges  had  not  turned  for  a 
hundred  years — and  there,  in  the  open  doorway, 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION  33 

illuminated  by  a  single  candle,  whose  rays  only 
revealed  the  vast  cavern  of  the  hall   beyond, 
stood  the  officer  with  whom  Archy  had  just 
parted. 
"  Come  in,  nephew,"  said  he. 


CHAPTER  III 

WITHOUT  a  word  Archy  entered  the  vast  hall. 
He  was  even  self-possessed  enough  to  help  in 
dragging  the  great  doors  back  to  their  places 
and  securing  them  with  chains  and  bars.  Then, 
coolly  folding  his  arms,  his  eyes  travelled  around 
the  hall,  gloomy  but  magnificent.  Great  gilt 
chandeliers  hung  from  a  noble  roof ;  antlers  and 
hunting  trophies  adorned  the  walls ;  rusty  armor 
was  plentiful,  and  close  to  him,  looming  up  in 
the  darkness  pierced  by  the  candle's  single  ray, 
was  a  manikin  in  armor,  mounted  on  horseback. 
With  lance  in  rest,  and  ghostly  caverns  in  the 
casque  where  the  eyes  should  be,  he  seemed  to 
stand  guard  over  that  ancient  place. 

After  a  moment  the  officer  spoke. 

"  Did  your  father  never  tell  you  of  his  half- 
uncle,  near  his  own  age— Colonel  Baskerville,  of 
the  Indian  service  ?" 

Archy  shook  his  head. 

"  My  father  told  me  as  little  as  possible  of  his 
family  in  England.  I  do  not  even  know  what 


THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION  35 

his  quarrel  with  them  was — only  I  know  he  felt 
a  deep  resentment  against  them." 

"  He  had  cause,"  responded  Colonel  Basker- 
ville.  "My  half-brother,  Lord  Bellingham,  ob- 
jected violently  and  unreasonably  to  your  fa- 
ther's marriage,  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he 
ill-treated  your  mother  under  this  very  roof." 

Archy,  whose  temper  was  quick,  and  who 
knew  how  to  make  a  prompt  resolve,  and  then 
to  act  upon  it,  stood  still  and  silent  for  a  mo- 
ment ;  then,  turning  to  the  door,  began  to  fum- 
ble at  the  intricate  fastening  of  the  chain,  saying, 
quietly, 

"  How  do  you  get  out  of  this  place,  sir  ?" 

"  Highty-tighty,"  replied  Colonel  Baskerville, 
good-humoredly  ;  "  what  are  you  trying  to  do  ?" 

"  To  get  away  from  here,"  said  Archy.  "  I 
think,  sir,  that  when  a  man  has  ill-treated  my 
mother,  I  ought  not  to  stay  one  moment  in  that 
man's  house." 

"  But  wait.  Lord  Bellingham  ill-treated  every 
member  of  his  family  who  dared  to  marry  with- 
out consulting  his  lordship.  His  only  daughter 
married  Captain  Langton,  a  gentleman  of  char- 
acter and  fortune ;  but  Lord  Bellingham,  who 
wanted  to  marry  her  off  to  a  duke  in  his  dotage, 
never  forgave  her." 


36  THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

"  That  is  another  reason  why  I  should  not  stay 
in  the  house  of  such  an  old  curmudgeon,"  re- 
sponded Archy,  with  spirit. 

"  But  you  will,  one  day,  be  Lord  Bellingham." 

"  No,  I  won't — or,  rather,  I  can't — for  I  am  an 
American." 

Colonel  Baskerville's  first  impulse  was  to  say 
"  Pooh."  Luckily,  he  refrained— for  if  he  had, 
Archy,  whose  hand  was  on  the  heavy  door-knob, 
would  have  bolted  out,  and  never,  probably, 
would  have  set  foot  in  those  regions  again.  But 
Colonel  Baskerville,  seeing  he  had  a  hot-headed 
and  impetuous  fellow  to  deal  with,  only  said  in 
response  to  this : 

"  Listen.  I  have  lately  heard,  from  a  safe  quar- 
ter, that  my  brother  is  deeply  repentant  of  his 
treatment  of  his  son  and  daughter,  and  would 
be  glad  to  atone  to  their  children  for  his  injus- 
tice to  their  parents.  No  human  being  has  the 
right  to  refuse  another  human  being  the  privilege 
of  redressing  a  wrong — if  a  wrong  may  ever  be 
redressed.  Therefore,  I  insist  that  you  shall 
see  your  grandfather." 

Archy  stood  silent  for  a  moment,  while  the 
idea  took  lodgment  in  his  mind  that  generosity 
and  forgiveness  were  not  the  mere  indulgence 
of  an  impulse,  but  should  be  a  fixed  principle  of 


THE   BOOK    OF   THE    LION  37 

action.  He  was  intelligent  enough  to  grasp 
Colonel  Baskerville's  meaning,  and  presently  he 
said : 

"  You  are  right,  sir.  However,  I  never  can 
benefit  by  my  grandfather's  estates,  as  I  know 
that  my  father  united  in  cutting  the  entail.  As 
for  this  old  rookery,  it  must  take  a  fortune  to 
keep  it  up." 

"  This  old  rookery,  as  you  call  it,  is  one  of  the 
finest  specimens  of  the  feudal  age  left  in  Eng- 
land. But  let  that  pass.  You  are  young  and 
necessarily  ignorant.  No  doubt  my  brother 
hopes  that  the  family  may  be  continued  through 
one  of  his  two  grandsons.  The  other  is  Mid- 
shipman Hugh  Langton,  of  his  Majesty's  sea- 
service." 

"  Trevor  Langton !"  cried  Archy,  breathlessly. 
"  Of  the  Seahorse  frigate?" 

"  The  same.    He  is  a  gallant  lad,  I  hear." 

"  Sir,"  said  Archy,  after  a  painful  pause,  "  it 
was  by  a  boat's  crew  of  the  Seahorse  that  I  was 
captured — and  Langton  and  I  became  great 
friends.  I  never  knew  we  were  cousins — and 
the  Seahorse  was  lost  off  the  coast  of  Spain  in 
January,  the  very  day  I  left  her — and  I,  myself, 
saw  Langton's  body — " 

Here  he  faltered ;  he  could  say  no  more. 


THE    ROCK    OF    THE    LION 


Colonel  Baskerville's  grim  face  paled,  and,  put- 
ting the  candle  down  with  a  shaking  hand,  he 
dropped  upon  the  great  oaken  settee  that  was 
placed  against  the  wall. 

"  Poor  lad  !  poor  lad !"  he  said,  brokenly, 
"and  his  poor  mother — she  was  the  sweetest 
creature.  I  had  looked  forward  to  seeing  her 
again  with  so  great  happiness,  and  I  already 
loved  her  boy." 

"  He  was  worthy  to  be  loved,"  answered 
Archy,  feeling  a  great  sob  rising  in  his  throat. 
"  He  was  the  manliest  fellow — " 

Then  there  was  a  long  silence.  How  strange 
it  all  was !  Archy,  who  had  lived  the  quietest 
and  most  prosaic  of  boyhoods  in  an  American 
clearing  on  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  seemed,  from 
the  day  of  his  father's  death,  to  have  fallen  into 
an  odd,  new  world,  and  sometimes  the  strange- 
ness of  it  all  staggered  him. 

The  silence  continued.  Colonel  Baskerville, 
leaning  his  head  on  his  hands,  seemed  quite 
overcome  by  the  terrible  news  that  Archy  had 
given  him. 

"  It  will  be  a  dreadful  shock  and  grief  to  my 
brother,"  he  said,  after  a  while. 

"  If  he  had  known  dear  Langton  as  I  did,  his 
grief  would  be  greater.  When  I  was  first  capt- 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  39 

ured,  it  was  not  very  comfortable  for  me  in  the 
gun-room  of  the  Seahorse.  You  know,  sir,  the 
extreme  prejudice  of  your  naval  service  to  Com- 
modore Paul  Jones — and  the  fact  that  I  had 
served  with  him  was  against  me,  although  I 
protest  I  think  it  the  greatest  honor  in  the  world 
to  serve  under  that  great  man.  I  did  not  let  the 
midshipmen  have  it  all  their  own  way" — here 
the  ghost  of  a  smile  came  to  Archy's  face — "  but 
Langton  stood  my  friend,  and  I  never  loved  any 
companion  I  ever  had  half  so  well.  Perhaps, 
sir,  after  all,  blood  is  thicker  than  water." 

"All  that  you  tell  me  makes  me  grieve  for 
him  the  more.  Lord  Bellingham,  though,  has  a 
special  disappointment  in  his  death,  for  you, 
with  your  youth  and  inexperience,  can  scarcely 
understand  the  overwhelming  desire  a  man  like 
Lord  Bellingham  feels  to  transmit  his  title  and 
estates  to  his  descendants;  and  he  has  none, 
except  you — and  I  foresee  he  would  have  a  hard 
task  to  make  you  adapt  yourself  to  his  views." 

"  Poor  old  Lord  Bellingham !" 

"  Poor,  indeed,  he  is,  in  spite  of  his  rank  and 
estates.  I  have  drawn  no  flattering  portrait  of 
him — but,  like  other  men,  he  has  his  good  points. 
He  is  a  bundle  of  contrariety.  He  is  generous 
and  cruel.  He  is  profuse  and  parsimonious.  He 


40  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

lives  in  two  rooms  in  luxury,  and  shuts  up  the 
rest  of  the  castle.  His  unkindness  drove  his 
children  away  from  him,  and  he  has  spent  thou- 
sands of  pounds  in  trying  to  get  information 
about  them  which  one  line  from  him  would  have 
brought.  He  is  the  finest  gentleman  and  the 
most  overbearing  social  tyrant  that  ever  lived. 
He  is  a  courtier  one  minute,  a  ruffian  the  next. 
For  my  part,  as  a  younger  brother  with  a  pit- 
tance besides  my  pay,  I  early  showed  my  inde- 
pendence of  him — with  the  result  that  he  has 
always  treated  me  with  kindness,  and  I  am  here 
now  because  an  express  met  me  when  I  landed 
from  India,  begging  that  I  come  to  him  at  once. 
He  is  very  old  and  feeble.  But  we  are  talking 
too  long.  You  want  food,  and  fire — and,  egad ! 
so  do  I.  There  was  once  a  bell  here — "  Colonel 
Baskerville  groped  along  the  wall  until  he  came 
to  the  huge  cavern  of  a  fireplace,  where  there 
was  a  bell-handle,  but  the  bell-rope  was  broken. 

"  Humph  !  Well,  I  know  the  way  to  a  little 
breakfast-parlor,  where  the  servant  who  let  me 
in  told  me  something  would  be  prepared  in  a 
few  minutes.  So,  come  with  me !" 

Colonel  Baskerville  made  his  way  out  of  the 
great  hall  into  a  long  corridor,  where,  after  in- 
numerable windings  and  turnings  and  going  up 


THE    BOCK    OF   THE    LION  41 

and  down  stairs,  they  came  to  a  little,  low  room, 
where  a  servant  in  livery  opened  the  door.  A 
bright  fire  blazed  upon  the  hearth,  and  some 
cold  meat  and  bread  and  cheese  and  ale  were  set 
out,  with  splendid  plate,  upon  a  table  lighted 
with  wax  candles.  Archy,  who  had  a  robust 
young  appetite,  would  cheerfully  have  dispensed 
with  the  plate  and  the  wax  candles  for  more  lux- 
urious fare.  Nevertheless,  he  made  great  play 
with  his  knife  and  fork,  and  Colonel  Baskerville 
was  not  far  behind.  Meanwhile,  the  elder  man 
watched  the  younger  one  intently,  and  every 
moment  he  felt  more  and  more  the  stirrings  of 
affection  in  his  heart— the  more  so  when  he  re- 
membered that  Langton  being  gone,  this  boy 
was  all  that  remained  to  maintain  the  family 
name  and  repute.  Nor  was  he  less  prepossessed 
in  Archy's  favor  by  observing  a  strong  family 
likeness  to  the  Baskervilles.  Without  being  so 
regularly  handsome  as  the  old  lord,  Archy  was 
singularly  like  him,  and  Colonel  Baskerville  be- 
lieved that  when  the  youth's  angular  face  and 
form  had  developed,  the  resemblance  would  be 
still  stronger.  Many  little  personal  movements, 
the  air  and  manner  of  speaking  and  walking, 
recalled  Lord  Bellingham,  but  Colonel  Basker- 
ville concluded  it  would  be  a  rash  man  who 


42  THE   EOCK   OF   THE    LION 

would  point  out  to  the  old  gentleman  how  like 
him  was  this  young  rebel. 

"  And  for  such  a  fine  fellow  to  belong  to  the 
American  rebels— it  is  not  to  be  thought  of,''  re- 
flected this  Royalist  gentleman.  "  We  must  win 
him  back,  but  we  must  be  careful,  very  careful — 
for  he  is  nice  on  the  point  of  honor.'-' 

After  Archy  had  devoured  everything  on  the 
table  he  stopped  eating.  When  supper  was  over 
the  servant  who  waited  upon  them — a  quiet, 
well-trained  butler— led  them  to  an  upper  floor, 
where  two  great  bedrooms,  with  canopied  beds, 
like  catafalques,  stood  in  the  middle  of  each. 

"  I  prefer  this  one,"  said  Colonel  Baskerville, 
when  the  servant  opened  the  door  of  one,  a  little 
less  vast  and  sepulchral  than  the  other,  but  he 
accompanied  Archy  to  the  door  of  the  next  one. 
"  This,  sir,"  began  the  servant,  "  is  one  of  the 
finest  bedrooms  in  the  castle.  It  was  occupied 
by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  on  his  return  from 
the  North  after  the  *  forty-five.'  It  was  for  him 
that  my  lord  had  these  purple  silk  bed-curtains 
and  plumes  at  the  corners  of  the  tester  put  up." 
"Did  he?"  said  Archy,  curiously  eying  the 
bed.  "  Well,  my  man,  I  think  my  lord  behaved 
deuced  unhandsome  to  the  Duke  of  Cumberland 
in  putting  him  in  this  old  hearse,  and  I  don't 


THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION  43 

choose  to  be  served  the  same  way ;  so  you  will 
please  'bout  face  and  show  me  the  way  back  to 
the  room  with  the  fire,  where  I  will  stick  it  out 
till  morning.  Now,  march !" 

The  man,  open-mouthed  but  dumfounded, 
turned  to  lead  the  way  back. 

"  Good-night,  uncle,"  cried  Archy,  gayly.  "  The 
Duke  of  Cumberland  may  submit  to  sleep  in 
a  hearse  with  feathers,  but  I'll  be  shot  if  an 
American  midshipman  will.  So,  good  rest  to 
you,  and  we'll  beard  the  lion  in  his  den  to- 
morrow morning."  And  off  Archy  walked. 

Colonel  Baskerville,  with  a  smile  on  his  keen, 
intelligent  face,  continued  looking  after  him. 

"  Ah,"  he  said,  aloud,  "  had  your  father  pos- 
sessed a  tithe  of  your  spirit,  he  would  not  have 
lived  and  died  a  morose  exile  in  a  foreign  land. 
You'll  do,  my  lad ;  you'll  do."  And,  still  smiling, 
he  turned  to  his  room  and  locked  the  door. 

Archy  lay  down  before  the  fire  in  the  little 
parlor,  and,  wrapping  himself  in  his  fine  cloak,  be- 
gan to  think  of  all  the  strange  things  that  had 
lately  befallen  him.  His  mind  turned  to  Lang- 
ton — so  brave,  so  chivalrous.  He  smiled,  while 
the  tears  came  unbidden  to  his  eyes,  when  he 
remembered  their  first  meeting  in  the  cockpit  of 
the  Seahorse — each  stripped  for  a  rough -and- 


44  THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

tumble  fight  over  the  merits  of  the  quarrel  be- 
tween King  George  and  the  American  colonies. 
The  fight  had  been  a  draw,  but  some  way,  with- 
out either  knowing  why,  it  had  never  been  re- 
newed. He  and  Langton  had  suddenly  become 
friends,  and  within  a  week  they  were  laughing 
over  their  scrimmage,  and,  in  friendly  bouts, 
testing  Langton's  greater  weight  and  height 
against  Archy's  agility  and  ability  to  stand  hard 
knocks.  And  then  came  the  farewell  in  the  boat 
— and  afterwards,  Langton's  white  face  as  the 
boiling  breakers  dashed  him  towards  the  rocks. 
With  this  thought  in  his  mind  Archy  suddenly 
fell  asleep,  and  did  not  awake  until  next  morning 
when  the  sun  was  pouring  brightly  into  the  lit- 
tle room. 

Breakfast  was  served  in  the  same  room  to 
Colonel  Baskerville  and  Archy  —  and  a  slim 
breakfast  it  was.  Archy's  face  grew  three-quar- 
ters of  a  yard  long  when  Diggory,  the  servant  of 
the  night  before,  with  a  great  flourish  removed 
the  silver  covers  to  show  a  little  toast  and  a  few 
rashers  of  bacon  in  the  dishes.  Colonel  Basker- 
ville burst  out  laughing. 

"  Look,  Diggory,"  he  said,  "  you  are  not  cater- 
ing now  for  a  gouty  old  gentleman  like  his  lord- 
ship, but  for  an  old  campaigner  like  myself  and 


THE   EOCK   OF   THE   LION  46 

a  midshipman  like  Mr.  Baskerville ;  and  go  you 
and  bring  us  some  eggs,  and  whatever  you  can 
lay  your  lingers  upon,  and  remember  to  stock  the 
commissary  for  dinner." 

Diggory  went  out,  and  presently  reappeared 
with  some  additions,  and  they  made  a  tolerable 
breakfast ;  but  Archy  remarked  that  he  was  not 
surprised  at  his  father  leaving  Bellingham  Castle, 
if  that  was  the  fare  he  was  fed  upon. 

"  And  now,"  said  Colonel  Baskerville,  "  I  shall 
go  to  my  brother,  and  he  will  probably  send  for 
you  shortly.  And  I — as  I  particularly  wish  you 
to  make  a  good  impression  on  him — I  advise  you 
to  send  to  the  village  for  your  portmanteau  and 
put  on  some  other  clothes,  for  my  brother  will 
be  sure  to  resent  violently  your  wearing  the 
American  uniform." 

"  He  appears  to  have  resented  violently  what 
all  of  his  family  did,  without  considering  the 
clothes  they  wore ;  but,  uncle,  I  tell  you  I  will 
not  take  off  this  uniform.  I  have  my  parole, 
which  protects  me;  and  if  I  ever  give  this  uni- 
form up,  to  anybody's  threats  or  persuasions,  I 
give  up  my  character  as  a  prisoner  of  war— and 
that,  seems  to  me,  would  be  a  great  blunder — so, 
if  Lord  Bellingham  does  not  like  my  clothes — 
well,  I  have  some  money  left,  and  I  can  get  to 


46  THE    BOOK    OF   THE    LION 

France  on  my  parole ;  and,  in  short,  uncle,  I  am, 
like  you,  independent  of  my  grandfather." 

"  You  are  a  very  rash  and  headstrong  young 
man,"  was  Colonel  Baskerville's  reply,  "  but  you 
will  learn  to  be  less  so  if  you  have  any  brains  at 
all.  You  will  not  be  sent  for,  I  am  sure,  before 
noon,  so  you  will  have  time  to  examine  the  castle 
and  park,  if  you  like." 

Colonel  Baskerville  went  out,  and  Archy,  noth- 
ing loath,  began  his  examination  of  the  place.  As 
he  knew  that  he  and  Colonel  Baskerville  would 
have  to  go  to  the  village  later  in  the  day  to  give 
their  evidence  of  the  attempt  at  highway-rob- 
bery, he  chose  rather  to  examine  the  interior  of 
the  castle.  He  spent  hours  going  over  it — later 
on  he  was  to  spend  days  in  the  same  employ- 
ment—  and  every  moment  his  respect  for  the 
"  old  rookery  "  increased.  First  he  went  to  the 
great  hall.  Built  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  it 
was  a  noble  specimen  of  sixteenth-century  archi- 
tecture. The  beauty  of  the  groined  roof  was 
clearly  visible  by  the  morning  light,  that  streamed 
in  the  long,  narrow  slits  of  windows.  On  every 
side  hung  dented  armor  and  helmets  that  had 
evidently  seen  service,  and  Archy  felt  a  natural 
thrill  of  pride  at  remembering  that  these  sturdy 
fighting  men  were  his  forefathers.  Besides  the 


THE   EOCK    OF   THE    LION  47 

armor,  there  were  on  the  walls  every  conceivable 
variety  of  ancient  weapon — the  long  arquebuse  of 
Elizabethan  days,  claymores  taken  from  the  Scot- 
tish knights  and  gentlemen  who  defended  Mary 
Stuart  at  Langside,  the  huge  swords  carried  by 
Cromwell's  Ironsides — and  all,  Archy  felt,  with 
a  stirring  history  attached  to  them.  That  mo- 
tionless knight  in  armor,  with  his  iron-bound  legs 
sticking  stiffly  out  from  the  sides  of  his  stuffed 
horse,  tremendous  spurs  fastened  to  his  boots  of 
Spanish  leather,  and  his  lance  in  rest,  seemed  to 
stand  watch  and  ward  over  this  storehouse  of 
dead  and  gone  valor.  Archy  could  scarcely  tear 
himself  away;  but  a  door  in  the  distance,  half 
open,  gave  him  a  glimpse  of  a  long,  low  picture- 
gallery,  its  walls  glowing  with  color,  and  he 
walked  nimbly  towards  it.  Yes,  it  was  very, 
very  beautiful.  It  was  much  less  sombre  than 
the  hall,  and  girandoles  placed  thickly  along  the 
wall  showed  that  it  could  be  illuminated  by  night 
as  well  as  day.  If  the  arms  and  accoutrements 
of  these  people  pleased  him,  how  much  more  did 
their  counterfeit  presentments !  The  first  por- 
trait on  which  his  eye  fell  was  "  Sir  Archibald 
Baskerville,  Baronet,  1620-1676,  general  in  the 
army  of  the  Commonwealth,  concerned  in  battles 
of  Edgehill  and  Marston  Moor,  and  in  the  capt- 


48  THE   BOOK   OF   THE   LION 

ure  of  Charles  I.  Voted  in  Parliament  for  the 
King's  release  on  parole,  and  on  the  execution  of 
the  King  retired  to  his  seat,  Bellingham  Castle, 
where  he  was  arrested  by  Cromwell's  order  and 
imprisoned  for  several  years,  but  was  finally  re- 
leased and  his  estate  restored  to  him  by  Charles 
II." 

Well,  that  Archibald  Baskerville  was  a  brave 
and  successful  rebel,  thought  Archy,  and  perhaps 
his  descendant  may  have  even  better  fortune. 

"  Rather  a  hard-looking  beggar,  though — looks 
like  the  highwayman  I  knocked  down  last  night. 
I  certainly  have  the  advantage  of  him  in  having 
the  air  of  an  honest  fellow  and  a  gentleman," 
was  Archy 's  inward  comment.  But  there  were 
scores  of  others  besides  Sir  Archibald.  There 
were  grave  judges  and  frowning  admirals,  and  a 
bishop  or  two,  besides  many  red-faced  country 
gentlemen — and  the  first  Lord  Bellingham — a 
laced  and  powdered  dandy  of  the  days  of  Queen 
Anne.  And  there  were  staid  old  dowagers,  and 
round-faced  matrons,  and  groups  of  quaint  chil- 
dren, and  my  Lady  Bellingham  in  farthingale 
and  hoop,  and  some  fair  young  girls,  now,  alas ! 
but  dust  and  ashes.  As  in  the  hall,  Archy  would 
have  lingered,  but  still  ahead  of  him  he  saw  a 
pair  of  beautifully  carved  doors  of  black  oak, 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  48 

and  examining  them,  and  turning  the  wrought- 
iron  handles,  he  entered  a  great  square  room,  as 
large  as  the  entrance-hall,  and  all  books  from  top 
to  bottom.  Archy  paused,  actually  awe-strick- 
en, for,  although  he  had  lately  given  but  little 
time  to  books,  he  loved  and  respected  them 
from  the  bottom  of  his  heart,  and  he  respected 
the  people  who  had  spent  such  vast  sums  on 
learning. 

The  room  was  low-ceiled,  and  the  many  win- 
dows were  from  the  roof  to  the  floor ;  and  over 
and  above  all  was  that  air  of  quiet,  of  studious 
retirement,  which  is  the  very  aroma  of  the  true 
library. 

As  Archy's  eyes  travelled  around  this  charming 
apartment,  he  noticed  there  were  some  busts  and 
a  few  pictures,  and  as  he  advanced  into  the  room 
he  saw,  just  over  the  door  by  which  he  had  en- 
tered, a  picture  with  its  face  to  the  wall.  It  did 
not  take  Archy  long  to  scramble  up  by  the  door 
and  get  a  good  look  at  the  picture,  and  after  a 
glimpse  he  deliberately,  and  with  some  trouble, 
turned  it  face  outward,  wiped  it  off  carefully  with 
his  handkerchief,  slipped  down  from  his  perch, 
and,  advancing  to  the  middle  of  the  room,  stood 
gazing  at  it  with  moist  eyes,  in  which  a  gleam  of 
anger  shone,  too,  for  it  was  his  father's  portrait. 


50  THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION 

There  was  no  mistaking  it,  although  it  repre- 
sented a  youth  of  about  Archy's  age;  but  the 
clear-cut,  melancholy  face,  with  the  deep  eyes 
and  thin  lips — it  was  life-like.  Whatever  the 
elder  Archibald  Baskerville's  failings  were — and 
they  had  been  many,  a  violent  and  morose  tem- 
per among  them — his  only  child  had  loved  and 
respected  him.  One  determination  had  dwelt  in 
Archy's  heart  ever  since  he  could  remember,  and 
that  was  never  to  let  any  one  cast,  even  by  im- 
plication, a  slur  upon  his  father  without  resenting 
it  as  far  as  he  could.  Perhaps  a  dim,  instinctive 
knowledge  that  his  father  was,  in  truth,  a  very 
faulty  man  was  the  mainspring  of  this  feeling. 
But  Archy  was  by  nature  loyal,  and  not  afraid  to 
show  his  loyalty;  and  the  same  spirit  which  had 
made  him,  when  a  little  lad,  fly  furiously  at  other 
lads  who  dared,  with  childish  cruelty,  to  taunt 
him  with  his  father's  silence  and  moroseness  and 
singularity,  made  him  now  promptly  show  that 
he  thought  his  father's  picture  worthy  of  a  place 
of  honor. 

While  Archy  was  looking  at  the  portrait  with 
earnest  eyes  he  heard  a  step  behind  him,  and 
there  stood  Major  Baskerville. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  the  old  rookery  now  ?" 
he  asked. 


THE   EOCK    OF   THE   LION  51 

"I  never  dreamed  of  anything  like  it,"  was 
Archy's  sincere  reply. 

Colonel  Baskerville  smiled,  and  then  said : 

"Lord  Bellingham  wishes  to  see  you  in  his 
own  room,  and,"  he  added,  with  a  smile,  "  I  wish 
he  had  asked  me  to  be  present  at  the  meeting. 
It  will  be  rare  sport." 

"  Do  you  think  so,  sir  ?"  answered  Archy,  airily, 
and  flushed  with  his  achievement  regarding  the 
picture. 

"  I  know  it.  He  has  never  been  defied  in  his 
life.  I  did  not  defy  him.  I'simply  went  my  own 
way  as  a  younger  half-brother  with  little  to  hope 
or  fear  from  him.  But  you  are  his  natural  heir, 
and,  although  he  can  keep  you  out  of  the  prop- 
erty, he  can't  keep  you  out  of  the  title  if  you 
want  it." 

"  But  I  don't  want  it,  and  can't  use  it,  sir ;  and 
as  to  his  keeping  me  out  of  the  property,  some  of 
that  would  be  precious  little  use  to  me.  What 
would  I  do  with  a  castle  ?  I  am  a  sailor,  sir,  and 
I  would  rather  have  a  seventy -four  than  all  the 
castles  in  England.  So  here  goes." 

And  Archy  marched  off  to  meet  Lord  Bel- 
lingham, not  wholly  unprepared  what  to  say 
and  do. 


CHAPTER  IV 

As  Archy  entered  a  room  adjoining  the  library 
corridor,  Lord  Bellingham  rose  to  receive  him. 

The  boy's  first  impression  was  that  his  grand- 
father was  the  handsomest  old  man  he  had  ever 
seen.  Not  very  tall,  but  perfectly  well  made, 
with  beautiful,  pale,  unwrinkled  features,  and  a 
pair  of  the  darkest,  clearest,  brightest  eyes  im- 
aginable, Lord  Bellingham  might  well  be  believed 
the  handsomest  man  of  his  day.  He  was  ele- 
gantly dressed  in  black  satin  coat  and  knee- 
breeches,  with  black  silk  stockings  and  black 
shoes  with  diamond  buckles  on  his  delicate,  high- 
arched  feet.  His  hair  was  powdered,  although 
it  was  in  the  morning,  and  the  dandy  of  the 
Court  of  George  II.  was  still  a  dandy,  even  in 
his  Northern  fastness. 

The  day  was  mild,  but  a  bright  fire  burned 
upon  the  hearth,  and  a  black  velvet  cloak,  thrown 
over  the  chair,  was  evidently  for  use  then  and 
there. 

The  impression  made  upon  Archy  was  great 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION  53 

and  immediate,  and  Lord  Bellingham  had  no 
reason  to  find  fault  with  him  for  any  want  of 
deference  when  he  advanced  and  shook  his  grand- 
father's hand  in  silence,  and  then  waited  to  be 
addressed. 

"  Grandson,"  said  Lord  Bellingham,  in  a  musi- 
cal voice  with  no  touch  of  the  tremor  of  age,  "  I 
had,  some  weeks  ago,  a  letter  from  my  excellent 
friend,  Admiral  Kempenfelt,  telling  me  of  you." 

"  The  Admiral  was  most  kind  to  me,  sir." 
There  was  a  pause,  and  then  Lord  Bellingham 
suddenly  asked : 

"May  I  inquire  your  plans  for  the  future?" 
Archy  studied  a  moment  or  two  before  answer- 
ing, and  then  said,  quietly : 

"  I  propose  to  await  an  exchange  of  prisoners 
which  will  shortly  take  place  in  France.  Then 
I  shall  join  Commodore  Jones  again." 

At  this  a  deep -red  flush  overspread  Lord 
Bellingham's  face;  he  clinched  his  hands,  and 
seemed  about  to  burst  into  a  torrent  of  wrath, 
but  restrained  himself.  When  he  spoke,  it  was 
to  say,  in  a  cold  voice : 

"  I  had  a  grandson — Trevor  Langton — who  was 
in  his  Majesty's  service,  and  a  loyal  officer  of 
his  Majesty.  It  has  been  my  hard  fate  to  lose 
him — and  to  find  you !" 


54  THE   KOCK   OF  THE   LION 

"  Sir,"  said  Archy,  firmly,  "  although  you  have 
found  me,  you  are  not  obliged  to  keep  me.  I 
came  here  on  the  recommendation  of  Admiral 
Kempenfelt.  I  have  some  money,  and  when  I 
get  my  share  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard's  prize- 
money  I  shall  have  plenty  —  the  Serapis,  sir, 
was  a  very  valuable  ship,  and  worth  a  hundred  of 
our  poor  old  Richard.  I  am  ready  to  go  away 
to-day — now,  this  moment,  if  you  wish  me." 

Lord  Bellingham's  reply  to  this  was  to  seize 
the  fire-tongs  and  vigorously  attack  the  sea-coal 
fire.  The  tongs,  however,  becoming  interlocked 
in  some  way,  he  suddenly  threw  them  violently 
across  the  room,  where  they  struck  a  marble 
bust  of  the  philosopher  Plato — the  apostle  of 
mildness — and  smashed  the  nose  off.  So  far  from 
agitating  Lord  Bellingham,  this  accident  seemed 
to  compose  him,  and  he  calmly  remarked : 

"I  feel  relieved.  My  temper  is  peculiar,  and 
I  find  that  by  giving  it  vent  in  some  noisy  but 
harmless  manner  I  am  soonest  calmed." 

Archy's  response  to  this  was  to  burst  into  a 
suppressed  guffaw  of  laughter,  which  his  grand- 
father perceiving,  he  also  smiled. 

"  Rebellion  seems  to  sit  lightly  on  you,  boy," 
he  said,  presently.  "  I  have  had  some  experi- 
ence of  what  rebellion  means.  During  the  rising 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  55 

in  '45  I  was  suspected  of  disloyalty.  I  had 
known  the  Young  Pretender  in  Eome  when  I 
was  on  the  grand  tour,  and  we  were  much  to- 
gether— ah,  they  were  wild  days !  After  my 
return  I  was  for  some  years  at  Court,  although 
I  disdained  any  appointment.  At  the  time  of 
the  rising  I  happened  to  be  here,  and  enter- 
tained the  Duke  of  Cumberland  on  his  way  to 
the  North.  When  everything  was  over,  and  the 
prisoners  from  Culloden  were  being  marched 
southward,  what  was  my  surprise  to  find  myself 
among  them,  mounted  on  a  horse  whose  bridle 
was  led  by  a  foot  -  soldier,  with  orders  to  shoot 
me  dead  if  I  attempted  to  escape.  When  we 
reached  London  I  had  no  difficulty  in  clearing 
myself  from  suspicion  without  a  formal  trial, 
and  the  King  was  pleased  to  admit  me  to  his 
levee  immediately  after  my  release.  The  Lords 
Bellingham  had  been  counted  as  among  the 
Tory  nobility,  and  that  was  one  reason  that  sus- 
picion fell  on  me;  and  my  enemies  magnified 
some  former  acts  of  civility  to  Charles  Edward 
into  complicity  with  him." 

"  But,  sir,"  asked  Archy,  very  earnestly,  "  did 
you  really — er — a — I  mean — did  you  not  in  your 
heart  wish  him  to  succeed  ?"  It  was  now  Lord 
Bellingham's  turn  to  smile. 


56  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

"  If  I  had,  I  should  be  now  probably  dwelling 
in  a  cave  in  America." 

"  We  are  not  cave-dwellers,  sir.  We  have  ex- 
cellent, good  houses.  But  you  had  better  luck 
when  you  were  captured  than  I  when  I  was 
captured  at  the  Texel,  for  I  was  chased  along 
the  sand  and  marshes  by  the  Seahorse's  men — 
and  knocked  down,  and  flung  into  their  boat  as 
if  I  had  been  a  lame  puppy — and  when  I  tried 
to  cry  out,  I  was  choked  by  a  great  monster  of 
a  boatswain's  mate,  and  told  they  would  chuck 
me  overboard  if  I  did  not  choke  my  luff — and 
they  would  have  done  it,  too,  sir !  And  then," 
added  Archy,  slyly,  "  you  would  have  been 
spared  the  finding  of  me." 

"  Young  man,  you  have  a  gift  of  repartee. 
Be  careful  how  you  use  it." 

"  I  did  not  know,  sir,  until  now,  that  I  had 
any  such  gift.  But  when  a  man  enters  the  naval 
service"  —  Archy  was  barely  sixteen,  but  he 
swelled  out  his  breast  and  stretched  up  his 
lithe,  handsome  figure  as  much  as  he  could — 
"  he  is  forced  to  learn  to  take  care  of  himself. 
If  he  does  not,  certainly  nobody  will  take  care 
of  him." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  Lord  Bellingham,  "  since, 
articles  of  exchange  have  been  agreed  upon,  it 


THE   BOOK   OF   THE   LION  57 

would  be  best  for  you  to  remain  here  until  you 
are  regularly  exchanged.  Then  I  hope  you  will 
be  persuaded  to  return  to  your  allegiance  to  your 
King  and  country." 

"Pardon  me,  sir,"  replied  Archy,  rising  at 
once,  "  it  is  not  customary  for  officers  on  parole 
to  listen  to  such  propositions." 

"  Not  from  their  own  families,  eh  ?" 

"  My  family  has  not  been  sufficiently  kind  to 
me  to  warrant  them  in  advising  me  in  a  matter 
so  delicate.  My  father  gave  me  permission,  be- 
fore his  death,  to  enlist  in  the  naval  service  of 
the  colonies — and  with  his  warrant  I  need  no 
other." 

"  Your  father  was  not  so  respectful  to  the 
wishes  of  his  father.  But,  be  seated  again.  I 
am  now  an  old  man — childless,  for  my  only 
remaining  child,  Trevor  Langton's  mother,  has 
long  been  estranged  from  me.  Had  her  son 
lived,  we  might  have  been  reconciled — I  deserve 
some  indulgence.  Stay  here  for  a  time  at  least." 

It  seemed  to  Archy  that  Lord  Bellingham  did 
not  have  much  claim  to  indulgence,  judging  by 
what  those  who  knew  him  best  said  of  him. 
But,  in  truth,  Archy  was  fascinated  by  his  grand- 
father's interesting  personality.  He  wanted  to 
see  more  of  so  odd  a  character — and  the  con- 


58  THE   SOCK   OF   THE    LION 

sciousness  of  having  at  least  enough  money  to 
get  back  to  London  whenever  he  wished,  and 
last,  but  not  least,  some  faint  awakening  of  the 
tie  of  blood,  determined  him. 

"  I  will  stay,  sir,"  he  said,  presently.  "  I  think 
my  father  would  perhaps  wish  me  to — and  my 
mother — I  do  not  remember  her,  but — "  he 
paused  suddenly.  Ought  he  to  stay? 

"  For  your  mother,  I  can  only  say  that  I  had 
no  fault  to  find  with  her  except  that  she  married 
my  son.  My  ebullitions  of  temper  were  mis- 
taken as  insults  to  her — but  it  has  always  been 
my  misfortune  to  have  these  trifling  and  incon- 
sequent faults  magnified  and  mistaken." 

Lord  Bellingham's  novel  view  of  himself  near- 
ly caused  Archy  to  explode  with  laughter  again 
— but  he  had  begun  to  want  to  stay  a  while  at 
Bellingham  Castle,  and,  like  most  people,  he  had 
but  little  difficulty  in  persuading  himself  that 
what  he  wished  to  do  was  the  best  thing  to  be 
done,  so  he  presently  agreed. 

Lord  Bellingham  then  began  asking  him.  ques- 
tions about  his  life  in  America,  and  Archy,  noth- 
ing loath,  plunged  into  a  description  of  it,  telling 
of  the  abounding  plenty  of  the  colonists,  his  own 
pleasant  boyhood  on  the  Chesapeake,  the  splen- 
dors of  the  viceregal  court  at  Williamsburg — 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION  59 

these  splendors  did  not  become  the  less  in  the 
telling,  and  Archy  was  not  without  gifts  as  a 
story-teller. 

Lord  Bellingham  listened  with  the  deepest  in- 
terest. The  story  of  this  new,  free,  fresh  life  be- 
yond the  seas  was  fascinating  to  the  old  man, 
reared  in  courts,  and  spending  his  later  days  in 
luxurious  and  eccentric  solitude.  And  without  in 
the  least  suspecting  it,  Archy  was  every  moment 
growing  in  grace  in  his  grandfather's  eyes.  Here 
was  no  hobbledehoy,  but  a  handsome  stripling, 
already  with  some  knowledge  of  the  world,  fear- 
less, frank,  and  quick  of  wit.  Before  either  of 
them  realized  how  time  was  flying,  the  shadows 
grew  long,  and  Diggory,  appearing  at  the  door, 
announced  kis  lordship's  dinner. 

"  Request  Colonel  Baskerville  to  dine  with  me 
to-day.  You,  grandson,  will  remain." 

As  Archy  had  an  idea  that  his  grandfather's 
dinner  was  considerably  better  than  what  Dig- 
gory  chose  to  provide  for  his  uncle  and  himself 
in  the  little  parlor,  he  agreed  with  alacrity,  and 
in  a  few  moments  the  three  were  sitting  around 
a  small  round  table  glittering  with  plate,  where 
an  elaborate  dinner  was  served. 

Every  moment  that  Archy  passed  with  Colonel 
Baskerville  he  felt  more  and  more  drawn  towards 


60  THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

him.  He  had  been  through  stirring  scenes  in 
India  with  Lord  Olive  and  Warren  Hastings,  and 
when  questioned  by  Lord  Bellingham,  he  told  of 
them  so  interestingly  that  all  three  forgot  the 
hour,  and  they  were  interrupted  by  a  message 
from  the  village  asking  them  to  come  and  give 
their  testimony  at  the  inquiry  about  the  at- 
tempted robbery. 

When  they  returned  it  was  night,  and  there 
was  no  invitation  to  join  Lord  Bellingham  at 
supper ;  but  Diggory,  acting  under  secret  instruc- 
tions, provided  them  with  an  excellent  supper. 
Scarcely  were  they  through  when  a  request  came 
from  Lord  Bellingham  that  Colonel  Baskerville 
wait  upon  him  in  his  own  room.  Archy,  left 
alone,  provided  himself  with  a  book  from  the 
library,  and,  mending  the  fire  and  trimming  the 
candles,  seated  himself  for  a  long  and  delightful 
evening  of  reading.  But  presently  the  book  fell 
from  his  hand,  and  he  began  thinking  over  the 
rapid  events  of  the  last  year,  and  then  his  mind 
turned  towards  Langton.  So  young,  so  brave — 
Archy  thought  he  had  never  met  a  more  gallant 
fellow — and  so  quiet  withal — the  favorite  alike 
of  officers  and  men.  He  began  to  wonder  how, 
in  their  many  long  talks,  nothing  had  ever  re- 
vealed to  each  other  their  relationship.  But  he 


THE   KOCK    OF   THE   LION  61 

remembered  that  he  instinctively  avoided  all 
mention  of  his  family,  a  trait  learned  from  his 
father,  who  had  never  even  told  him  of  any  rela- 
tions named  Langton.  And  Langton's  mother 
had  probably,  for  the  same  melancholy  reason, 
kept  him  in  the  dark  also.  While  these  thoughts 
were  passing  through  his  mind,  hours  slipped 
away.  The  candles  were  burned  to  their  sock- 
ets when  Colonel  Baskerville  appeared. 

"  I  have  spent  the  evening  with  my  brother, 
talking  about  you,"  he  said  to  Archy,  seating 
himself.  "  You  seem  to  have  politely  defied  him, 
and  thereby  conquered  him." 

"If  he  thinks  I  mean  to  give  up  my  coun- 
try— "  began  Archy. 

"Tush!  You  can  do  nothing  until  you  are 
twenty-one.  But  I  think  I  can  promise  you  that 
nothing  will  be  left  undone  to  charm  you  with 
England,  and  with  your  place  as  Lord  Belling- 
ham's  heir.  He  asked  me  about  your  clothes, 
and  I  explained  about  the  uniform — ha !  ha !" 

Colonel  Baskerville  laughed  outright  at  the 
recollection. 

Next  morning  Archy  went  to  the  library  for 
another  look  at  his  father's  portrait.  To  his  in- 
dignation, he  found  it  turned  to  the  wall  again. 
Archy  then,  locking  the  door  to  be  secure  from 


62  THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

interruption,  carefully  and  deliberately  turned 
every  picture  in  the  library  to  the  wall.  Then, 
with  an  air  of  triumph,  he  met  Diggory's  eye 
when  that  functionary  came  to  him  with  a  mes- 
sage that  Lord  Bellingham  desired  to  see  him. 
At  that  interview  Lord  Bellingham  mentioned 
that  he  had  sent  to  York  for  a  full  supply  of 
clothes  for  Archy,  for  which  Archy  thanked  him 
politely. 

That  very  night,  on  going  to  his  room — not 
the  Duke  of  Cumberland's,  but  a  smaller  and 
less  splendid  one — he  found  two  large  boxes  of 
clothes.  Archy,  who  was  by  nature  a  dandy, 
examined  them  with  pleasure.  There  were  three 
very  elegant  suits,  two  of  them  laced,  a  quantity 
of  linen,  and  a  fine  flowered  dressing-gown. 

When  he  rose  next  morning  he  was  surprised 
and  annoyed  to  find  that  his  shabby  continental 
navy  uniform  had  disappeared  mysteriously,  and 
in  its  place  lay  a  handsome  cloth  riding-suit.  He 
remembered  that  Diggory  had  come  into  the 
room  to  make  the  fire,  and  he  suspected  the 
clothes  had  gone  out  under  Diggory's  arm.  A 
shout  in  the  corridor  brought  Diggory — but  he 
stolidly  protested  that  he  knew  nothing  about 
the  clothes. 

"  He  is  lying,"  thought  Archy;  "  but  I  will  be 


THE   KOCK    OF   THE   LION  63 

even  with  him,  and  my  grandfather  too."  So, 
dressing  himself,  but  putting  on  his  gay  dressing- 
gown  instead  of  a  coat  and  waistcoat,  he  coolly 
walked  down  to  breakfast.  Colonel  Basker- 
ville  laughed  at  the  apparition,  and  he  laughed 
still  more  when  Archy  afterwards  gravely 
paced  up  and  down  the  terrace  in  full  view  of 
his  grandfather's  windows.  After  a  while  he 
started  off,  through  the  park,  towards  the  vil- 
lage. A  window  was  flung  up  behind  him,  and 
Colonel  Baskerville's  voice  called  out : 

"  Lord  Bellingham  desires  to  know  where  you 
are  going  ?" 

"  To  the  village,  sir." 

"  In  that  rig  2" 

"  I  have  no  other,  sir.  My  clothes  have  been 
stolen."  And  off  Archy  marched,  the  dressing- 
gown  flapping  about  his  knees. 

Just  as  he  reached  the  park  gates  he  heard 
some  one  pursuing  him  at  a  quick  trot.  It  was 
Diggory. 

"  Lord,  sir,  here  are  your  clothes !  His  lord- 
ship is  near  having  a  fit  at  home,  swearing  most 
awful,  and  Colonel  Baskerville  laughing  like  to 
kill — and  I  ran  and  fetched  the  clothes." 

"  Next  time  you  take  my  clothes,  you  impu- 
dent lackey,  I  will  break  some  of  your  worth- 


64  THE    KOCK    OF   THE    LION 

less  bones  for  you,"  was  Archy's  reply.  And  with 
Diggory's  assistance,  in  the  middle  of  the  road- 
way, he  put  on  his  well -beloved,  shabby  blue 
uniform,  and  went  calmly  on  his  way  to  the 
village. 


CHAPTER  V 

SEVERAL  weeks  passed  by  and,  as  Colonel 
Baskerville  had  predicted,  nothing  was  left  un- 
done to  make  Arehy  feel  how  desirable  a  posi- 
tion Lord  Bellingham's  grandson  and  heir  would 
hold.  Every  afternoon  his  grandfather  sent  for 
him,  and  talked  long  and  interestingly  to  him, 
telling  of  the  early  days  at  the  court  of  George 
II.,  describing  splendid  court  functions  to  him, 
and  impressing  upon  him  with  great  art  the 
important  position  that  the  Baron  of  Belling- 
ham  would  always  hold,  both  socially  and  politi- 
cally— for  Lord  Bellingham  had  the  disposal  of 
three  seats  in  Parliament. 

Archy  listened  attentively  enough,  but  the  ef- 
fect of  much  that  he  heard  was  directly  the  con- 
trary of  what  his  grandfather  expected.  Archy 
was  quite  sharp  enough  to  realize  that  many  of 
the  usual  advantages  of  rank  did  not  appeal  to 
him,  while  its  restrictions  were  almost  intolera- 
ble. He  saw  that  the  possession  of  a  great  name 
and  estate,  and  all  the  vast  privileges  of  a  peer 


66  THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

in  the  eighteenth  century,  had  only  intensified 
all  of  his  grandfather's  faults,  his  violent  tem- 
per, his  dictatorial  disposition — and  had  neutral- 
ized his  talents,  which  were  considerable.  The 
sight  of  an  irritable,  eccentric  old  man  leading 
a  life  of  perfect  solitude,  estranged  from  all  his 
family  except  his  half-brother,  and  using  every 
art  of  cajolery  to  make  himself  tolerable  to  his 
only  grandson,  was  not  an  inspiring  one  to  a  boy 
of  Archy  Baskerville's  high  and  daring  spirit 
and  inborn  love  of  adventure. 

Nevertheless,  Lord  Bellingham  showed  signs 
of  softening,  which  were  more  surprising  to 
Colonel  Baskerville  and  the  rest  of  his  house- 
hold than  to  Archy,  who  had  seen  really  the 
best  of  him.  He  seemed  to  take  a  melancholy 
interest  in  hearing  of  Langton's  many  fine  quali- 
ties and  personal  charm — and  one  day,  after  a 
long  conversation  with  Archy,  Lord  Bellingham 
said,  almost  as  if  talking  to  himself : 

"  My  poor  daughter — what  misery  to  lose  such 
a  son !" 

A  day  or  two  after  that  Colonel  Baskerville 
said  to  Archy,  in  his  usual  kind  but  curt  manner : 

"You  have  done  a  good  thing  in  speaking 
of  Langton  to  your  grandfather.  He  has  this 
day  written  to  his  daughter — the  first  time  for 


THE   EOCK   OF   THE    LION  07 

twenty  years.  He  is  really  becoming  quite 
human." 

Lord  Bellingham,  however,  seemed  to  be 
ashamed  of  any  soft  or  generous  impulse,  and 
harangued  Archy  upon  the  subject  of  his  daugh- 
ter and  her  son  as  if  the  real  sorrow  was  not 
Langton's  death,  but  the  loss  of  a  possible  heir 
to  the  Bellingham  estates — and  as  for  the  title, 
he  seemed  to  regard  Archy's  indifference  to  it 
as  something  sacrilegious. 

"  All  titles  are  not  honorable,  sir,"  said  Archy. 
"  There  is  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  the  British  com- 
mander at  New  York.  He  is  called  the  Prince 
of  Blunderers.  Nothing  pleasant  about  that, 
sir." 

Lord  Bellingham  showed  his  appreciation  of 
this  news  about  Sir  Henry  Clinton  by  giving  a 
savage  kick  to  a  chair  near  him,  which  in  its 
turn  knocked  over  a  table  with  candles  on  it,  and 
only  Archy's  quickness  prevented  a  fire  on  the 
spot.  "When  quiet  was  restored,  this  young 
American,  in  perfect  good  faith,  and  thinking 
himself  rather  a  clever  fellow  for  hitting  upon  a 
solution  of  the  question  of  the  estates,  came 
near  bringing  a  hurricane  of  wrath  down  on 
himself. 

"  There  are  two  girls,  sir.     Langton  has  often 


•8  THE   EOCK    OF   THE    LION 

told  me  of  his  sisters,  and  you  could  give  the 
estates  to  them." 

"  Girls !"  almost  shrieked  Lord  Bellingham, 
and  then  relapsed  into  a  state  of  silent  fury  at 
the  idea  that  Bellingham  should  go  to  two  girls. 
Archy  looked  deeply  hurt  at  the  way  his  remark 
had  been  received,  and  left  his  grandfather's 
presence  with  an  air  of  haughtiness  ridiculously 
like  the  old  man's,  which  caused  Colonel  Bas- 
kerville  to  laugh  heartily  at  the  scene.  But 
Archy  made  no  more  suggestions  as  to  the  dis- 
position of  the  Bellingham  estates. 

At  the  end  of  December  the  assizes  were  held 
at  York,  and  Lord  Bellingham,  as  Lord-lieuten- 
ant of  the  North  Riding,  was  to  attend  them  in 
state. 

"  And  I  should  be  glad,  my  dear  Archibald,  to 
have  your  company  in  the  coach,"  said  the  old 
gentleman,  in  a  tone  of  dulcet  softness,  having 
forgiven  Archy  his  maladroit  speech. 

Archy,  who  would  walk  ten  miles  any  day  to 
see  a  fine  show,  readily  agreed.  Nothing  was 
said  about  clothes;  but  when  Archy  carefully 
examined  his  blue  uniform  that  night,  he  found 
that  it  was  indeed  on  its  last  legs.  His  elbows 
were  out,  his  knees  were  but  little  better,  and, 
worse  than  all,  he  was  shooting  up  so  tall  and 


THE   BOCK    OF   THK    LION  69 

filling  out  so  fast  that  he  had  completely  out- 
grown both  jacket  and  trousers.  There  was  no 
help  for  it ;  Archy  laid  his  beloved  shabby  uni- 
form away  carefully,  and  next  morning  appeared 
at  breakfast  in  the  handsome  brown  riding-suit. 

Colonel  Baskerville  noted  it  with  an  approving 
nod. 

"I  fully  reckoned  on  your  getting  a  broken 
head,  sooner  or  later,  for  wearing  your  Amer- 
ican uniform.  It  was  foolhardy ;  but  I  perceive, 
nephew,  you  are  inclined  to  be  foolhardy." 

"  The  French,  sir,  called  Captain  Jones  fool- 
hardy when  he  sailed  into  the  narrow  seas  with 
the  Ranger  sloop,  and  they  had  fifty-five  sail  of 
the  line  holding  on  to  their  anchors  at  L'Orient ; 
but  he  came  back  all  safe,  and  brought  the  Drake 
with  him.  And  they  said  he  was  worse  than 
foolhardy  when  he  went  out  in  the  poor  old  Bon 
Homme  Richard  ;  but  he  came  back  again,  and 
that  time  he  brought  the  Serapis — huzza !"  Here 
Archy  got  up  and  cut  a  pigeon-wing,  nearly  up- 
setting Diggory  with  a  tray  full  of  cups  and 
saucers. 

"  Let  me  tell  you  one  thing,  young  man,"  re- 
marked Colonel  Baskerville,  coolly ;  "  you  have 
a  very  clever  trick  of  always  having  the  last 
word,  but  don't  imagine  for  a  moment  that  it 


70  THE    ROCK    OF    THE    LION 

proves  you  are  always  right.  Clever  tricks  count 
for  but  little  in  the  long-run." 

Archy  went  into  a  brown -study  at  this  re- 
mark, and  at  the  end  of  ten  minutes  came  out  of 
it  to  say : 

"  Uncle,  I  believe  you  know  a  great  deal,  one 
way  and  another." 

"  Hear !  hear !"  said  Colonel  Baskerville,  sar- 
castically. "  A  young  gentleman  not  yet  seven- 
teen gracefully  admits  that  a  man  three  times 
his  age  actually  knows  something !  You  amaze 
me,  nephew." 

"  I  don't  admit  that  I  don't  know  anything," 
stoutly  protested  Archy. 

"  Far  from  it,  my  dear  boy.  You  know  more 
now  than  you  ever  will,  if  you  live  to  be  a  hun- 
dred. Every  year  of  your  life  you  will  know 
less — in  your  own  estimation,  that  is.  But  at 
present  you  have  nothing  to  learn." 

At  which  Archy  laughed  rather  sheepishly, 
and  went  on  with  his  breakfast. 

Immediately  after  breakfast  the  splendid  coach- 
and-four,  with  outriders,  was  drawn  up  at  the 
main  entrance,  and  Lord  Bellingham  appeared, 
magnificently  dressed,  with  his  breast  covered 
with  orders,  and  a  diamond-hilted  sword  on  his 
hip.  He  entered  the  coach,  taking  the  middle 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION  71 

of  the  back  seat,  while  Colonel  Baskerville  and 
Archy  sat  facing  him. 

It  was  a  beautifully  clear  December  morning, 
and  when  the  horses  took  the  road  through  the 
park  at  a  rattling  gait,  it  was  exhilarating  in  the 
highest  degree.  Colonel  Baskerville's  plain  but 
kindly  face  lighted  up,  and  even  Lord  Belling- 
ham  seemed  to  feel  a  briskness  in  the  blood.  But 
Archy  grew  unaccountably  grave.  He  had  an 
indefinable  feeling  that  he  was  leaving  it  all  for 
the  last  time,  and  caught  himself  involuntarily 
looking  around  at  the  gray  old  castle  on  the  hill, 
the  slopes  of  the  park  on  which  the  red  deer 
stood  peacefully  feeding,  the  low  chain  of  blue 
hills  in  the  distance,  as  if  he  were  saying  fare- 
well to  them — nor  could  he  shake  off  this  singu- 
lar impression  during  the  whole  drive. 

At  the  park  gates  they  were  joined  by  the 
mounted  yeomanry,  and  every  parish  they  passed 
through  sent  its  quota,  until,  when  they  reached 
the  old  minster  city  of  York,  they  had  a  great 
cavalcade  behind  them.  The  venerable  town 
was  in  holiday  garb.  The  trainbands  were  out, 
with  fife  and  drum;  the  sheriffs  and  lord-lieu- 
tenants of  all  three  ridings  were  present  in  state ; 
and  the  judges  in  their  robes  awaited  the  form- 
ing of  the  procession  to  the  assize  hall. 


72  THE    KOCK   OF   THE    LION 

The  life,  the  color,  the  masses  of  people  who 
filled  the  picturesque  streets  of  the  beautiful  old 
town,  were  captivating  to  Archy  —  but  what 
amazed  him  most  was  to  see  a  number  of  man- 
o'  -warsmen  about.  He  was  not  long  in  finding 
out  that  there  was  a  large  fleet  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Huraber,  and  these  were  liberty  men  who 
had  come  to  York  in  wagons  to  spend  their  few 
hours  of  shore  time. 

But  Archy  was  himself  a  sailor,  and  he  began 
to  consider  that  captains  were  not  wont  to  al- 
low men  so  far  inland  merely  for  a  day's  holi- 
day, and  the  presence  of  several  officers  threw 
a  flood  of  light  on  the  question. 

"  They  are  press-gangs,"  he  thought  to  him- 
self. "  The  fleet,  I  have  heard,  is  short-handed, 
and  they  have  selected  some  of  the  trustiest  fel- 
lows and  sent  them  here  with  their  officers,  and 
many  a  stout  countryman  will  sleep  to-morrow 
night  on  one  of  his  Majesty's  ships." 

But  Archy  soon  became  so  taken  up  with  the 
splendid  pageant  of  opening  the  assizes  that  he 
forgot  the  sailors  for  the  time.  The  highway- 
man and  his  accomplice,  the  coachman  of  the 
Comet,  were  to  be  tried  at  that  term,  but  Archy 
soon  found  that  the  trial  would  not  come  off 
until  the  next  day,  and  his  testimony  would  not 


THE    BOCK   OF  THE    LION  73 

be  wanted  until  then.  All  was  grand  and  im- 
posing until  the  prisoners  were  brought  in,  but 
the  sight  of  so  much  misery  and  wickedness 
smote  the  boy  to  the  heart,  and  he  quickly  left 
the  favored  position  he  occupied  in  the  hall,  and 
Avent  out  and  walked  about  the  streets. 

The  sitting  of  the  Court  was  unusually  pro- 
longed, and  the  short  December  day  was  rapidly 
closing  in  before  the  procession  was  again  formed, 
with  something  less  of  state,  to  return  to  the 
grand  dinner  served  to  the  judges  and  all  the 
great  functionaries.  In  the  evening  there  was 
to  be  a  splendid  assize  ball,  and  while  wretches 
were  bemoaning  the  sentences  of  death  or  trans- 
portation they  had  received,  and  trembling 
prisoners  waited  in  anguish  the  coming  of  their 
turn  of  trial,  a  splendid  company  assembled  for 
the  ball.  But  the  same  strange  feeling  of  op- 
pression still  hung  upon  Archy.  The  sights  he 
had  seen  were  very  brilliant,  but  there  was  some- 
thing in  the  very  word  Assize  that  sobered  him. 

After  dinner  he  slipped  quietly  away  from 
Colonel  Baskerville,  and  joining  the  crowd  out- 
side the  noble  building  where  the  ball  was  to 
be  held,  watched  the  assembling  of  the  guests. 
Among  the  last  to  come  was  his  grandfather. 
Never  had  Lord  Bellingham  looked  more  su- 


74  THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION 

perb  than  when  he  descended  from  his  coach, 
bowing  right  and  left  to  the  cheering  crowd. 
He  was  an  unpopular  man,  a  hard  landlord,  and 
overbearing  to  his  equals — but  he  was  noble  to 
look  at,  and  the  unthinking  crowd  cheered  him 
because  of  that. 

Archy  felt  no  inclination  to  enter  the  ball- 
room then,  and  wrapping  his  cloak  around  him, 
he  sauntered  away  into  the  distant  streets,  now 
silent  and  deserted  under  the  quiet  stars. 

He  was  thinking  deeply  and  rather  sadly — 
trying  to  imagine  how  his  father  had  walked 
those  streets  twenty  years  before — recalling 
Langton,  and  pitying  his  grandfather's  coming 
loneliness  when  both  he  and  Colonel  Basker- 
ville  left  him — for  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to 
go  to  London  with  Colonel  Baskerville  shortly, 
and  to  see  what  his  prospects  of  exchange  were. 
He  wandered  on  and  on,  until  he  found  himself 
in  a  remote  corner  of  the  town,  opposite  a  quaint, 
old-fashioned  inn,  its  spacious  taproom  opening 
on  a  level  with  the  street. 

Inside  were  a  number  of  sailors  and  country- 
men, and  slightly  separated  from  them,  in  little 
box-like  compartments,  were  two  or  three  naval 
officers.  Archy  was  surprised  at  this  at  first, 
but  he  soon  reasoned  it  out  for  himself. 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION  75 

"  It  is  a  regular  raid  they  are  planning,"  he 
thought,  "  and  the  officers  are  there  to  quietly 
direct.  Oh,  there  will  be  a  love  of  a  scrim- 
mage!" and  this  notion  proving  very  enticing, 
Archy  entered,  and  calling  for  bread  and  cheese 
and  ale,  seated  himself  in  one  of  the  little  boxes 
by  the  fire. 

The  landlady,  a  handsome,  middle-aged  woman, 
and  her  three  buxom  daughters,  he  soon  guessed 
were  in  the  plot  with  the  officers,  who  spent 
their  money  freely,  and  kept  the  landlord  and 
all  his  assistants  on  the  trot.  One  party  at  a 
table  particularly  attracted  his  attention.  There 
were  half  a  dozen  sailors  who  let  on,  in  their 
characteristically  imprudent  way,  that  they  had 
lately  been  paid  off  at  Plymouth,  and  being 
north-country  men,  were  on  their  way  home  to 
see  their  relatives  instead  of  spending  their 
money  in  riot  and  dissipation  in  Plymouth  and 
London.  One  of  them,  a  hale,  handsome,  well- 
made  man  of  about  fifty,  particularly  struck 
Archy's  eye. 

"  You  won't  stand  much  of  a  chance,  my  fine 
fellow,  with  a  press-gang,"  thought  Archy,  ad- 
miring the  old  sailor's  brawny  figure  and  fine, 
sailor-like  air,  "  nor  your  mates  either,  and  if 
I  were  out  on  a  press  for  men  I  don't  know 


76  THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION 

but  I  would  be  as  quick  to  nab  you  as  any- 
body." 

Besides  the  main  door,  there  was  another  door 
opening  upon  a  corridor  that  led  to  the  court- 
yard, and  through  this  corridor  passed  the  land- 
lord and  his  wife  and  daughters,  and  the  waiters, 
serving  the  guests.  Presently  Archy  saw  an 
officer  get  up  nonchalantly,  open  the  door  slight- 
ly, then  close  it,  and  the  landlady  quietly  barred 
and  locked  it.  Archy,  however,  had  a  momen- 
tary glimpse  down  the  corridor,  and  he  caught 
sight  of  a  huge  covered  wagon,  with  four  horses, 
drawn  up  in  the  court-yard. 

Five  minutes  afterwards  every  light  went  out 
like  magic,  leaving  only  the  half-light  of  a  blaz- 
ing sea-coal  fire ;  the  front  door  was  clapped  to, 
and  as  if  by  a  preconcerted  effort  a  dozen  sailors 
dashed  at  the  seafaring  men  seated  at  the  mid- 
dle table,  others  made  a  rush  for  several  country- 
men quietly  munching  bread  and  cheese,  and  a 
general  melee  was  in  order. 

After  the  first  moment  of  surprise,  the  sailors 
did  not  have  it  all  their  own  way,  and  a  tremen- 
dous uproar  followed.  It  seemed  to  be  quite  free 
from  any  of  the  enmities  of  a  fight,  though,  and 
the  landlord,  standing  off  impartially,  grinned, 
while  the  landlady  and  her  three  daughters 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE    LION  77 

seemed  to  consider  it  the  height  of  a  frolic.  The 
three  officers  on  the  edge  of  the  struggling  crowd 
shouted  out  orders,  and  several  brawny  country- 
men were  secured  after  a  hard  scuffle.  But  the 
sailors  at  the  middle  table  were  used  to  that  sort 
of  thing,  and  it  was  plain  that  the  press-gang 
had  its  work  cut  out  to  capture  these  men.  The 
next  thing  they  did,  after  fighting  off  the  first 
onslaught,  was  to  throw  themselves  like  a  batter- 
ing-ram against  the  door  leading  to  the  corridor, 
the  main  door  being  much  too  heavy  and  too  se- 
curely fastened  for  them  to  break  it  down.  The 
corridor  door  gave  way  with  a  crash  as  they 
hurled  themselves  against  it,  but  a  dozen  sailors 
rushed  to  it,  and  fought  them  back  step  by  step. 
The  men,  led  by  the  handsome  old  fellow  that 
Archy  had  admired,  held  their  ground  stoutly, 
but  they  were  slowly  driven  back  from  the  door, 
only  to  intrench  themselves  behind  the  long 
tables,  where,  brandishing  chairs,  shovels  and 
tongs,  sticks,  and  anything  else  they  could  lay 
hold  of,  they  jeered  at  the  sailors  with  cutlasses, 
and  dared  them  to  come  on. 

"Catch  that  old  fellow,  my  lads  — he's  the 
best  topman  in  the  service,"  bawled  one  of  the 
officers,  and  in  response  to  this  half  a  dozen 
men  surrounded  the  old  sailor,  who,  armed  with 


78  THE    ROCK    OF   THE   LION 

the  kitchen  poker,  made  it  fly  around  like  a  flail. 
During  all  this  uproar  and  confusion  Archy  had 
sat  still  in  his  corner,  a  perfectly  disinterested 
observer ;  but  when  he  saw  a  young  sailor  sud- 
denly begin  to  crawl  under  the  table  to  seize  the 
old  man  by  the  legs,  Archy  could  not  remain 
neutral  another  minute.  He  made  a  dash  at  the 
young  fellow,  and,  seizing  him  by  the  legs  in 
turn,  immediately  found  himself  in  the  thick  of 
the  fight. 

The  men  who  were  to  be  pressed,  encouraged 
by  their  new  recruit,  who  yelled  out,  "  Stick  to 
it,  my  lads!  Don't  let  'em  take  you  against 
your  will !"  made  a  sortie  from  behind  the  table, 
valiantly  led  by  Archy  with  his  sword  ;  but  this 
rash  proceeding  proved  disastrous  —  they  were 
quickly  overpowered  by  numbers,  and  every  one 
of  them  finally  captured.  They  made  a  desper- 
ate fight  for  their  new  ally,  and  protected  him 
to  the  end,  the  old  sailor  being  the  last  to  suc- 
cumb ;  but  when  Archy's  fortunes  seemed  most 
desperate,  he  suddenly  found  a  friend  in  the 
landlady. 

"  Hey,  there !"  exclaimed  this  sturdy  Amazon. 
"  Let  the  young  gentleman  alone.  He  ain't  no 
man  for  a  press-gang!"  And  with  that  she 
pushed  her  way  between  the  struggling,  shout- 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  79 

ing  men,  and,  planting  herself  firmly  before 
Archy,  cried  out,  brandishing  a  canister  of  snuff 
she  had  snatched  off  the  mantel  -  piece,  "  The 
first  man  as  lays  hold  on  this  here  young  gentle- 
man gets  snuff  in  his  eyes.  And  you,  Hizzy, 
Betsy,  and  Nancy,  come  here  and  help  me  to 
keep  this  sweet  young  gentleman  out  o'  the  way 
o'  them  murderin'  ruffians,  bad  luck  to  'em. !" 

Hizzy,  Betsy,  and  Nancy,  three  great,  strapping 
girls,  each  bigger  than  Archy,  ran  forward  at  this. 
Hizzy,  pulling  out  a  table-drawer  and  handing 
a  rolling-pin  to  Betsy  and  another  to  Nancy, 
armed  herself  with  a  tremendous  pair  of  shears, 
and,  marching  to  her  mother's  side,  prepared  to 
defend  "  the  sweet  young  gentleman." 

The  officers  and  men,  disconcerted  for  a  mo- 
ment by  the  sudden  move  on  the  part  of  the 
women,  fell  back,  laughing. 

"  Please,  sir,"  said  one  of  the  sailors,  with  a 
broad  grin,  to  the  officers,  "  we  knows  how  to 
fight  men,  but  we  ain't  used  to  handlin'  women 
— and  we  leaves  'em  to  our  betters." 

The  landlady,  who  had  heretofore  made  no 
objection  to  the  rumpus  going  on,  now  suddenly 
discovered  that  it  was  a  very  outrageous  pro- 
ceeding, and  began  to  harangue  at  the  top  of 
her  lungs. 


80  THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION 

"  Nice  goings  on,  this,  for  a  respectable  tavern! 
Next  thing  we'll  be  up  afore  a  justice  and  have 
our  license  took  away !  And  arter  takin'  away 
our  customers,  peaceable  men  as  pays  their  score, 
you  wants  to  nab  with  your  beastly  press-gang 
a  beautiful  young  gentleman,  with  a  handsome 
cloak  and  silk  stockings.  But  never  you  mind, 
my  darlin',  we'll  keep  them  murderin'  ruffians 
off  and  send  you  home  to  your  lady  mother" — 
this  last  to  the  hero  of  this  tale,  who,  in  his 
heart,  somewhat  resented  the  language  of  his 
rescuers. 

"  Madam,"  explained  one  of  the  officers,  in  a 
tone  of  the  mildest  argument,  "  we  are  exceed- 
ingly sorry  to  cause  your  ladyship  and  your 
ladyship's  lovely  daughters  any  inconvenience, 
but  that  young  gentleman  we  mean  to  have,  to 
serve  as  we  please,  for  his  insolence  in  daring  to 
resist  the  King's  officers;  so  here  goes" — and  at 
this  he  made  a  dash  forward,  and,  seizing  the 
landlady  round  the  waist,  attempted  to  drag  her 
away.  But  the  Amazon,  as  good  as  her  word, 
gave  him  a  shower  of  snuff  in  the  face.  His  two 
brother  officers,  coming  to  his  rescue,  were  so 
unmercifully  whacked  on  the  head  with  the  roll- 
ing-pins in  the  hands  of  Betsy  and  Nancy,  while 
Hizzy  jabbed  at  them  with  the  shears,  that  they 


THE   HOCK   OF   THE    LION  81 

soon  found  it  prudent  to  retire  amid  the  roars  of 
laughter  of  both  victors  and  vanquished.  They 
presently  returned  to  the  charge ;  and  now  be- 
held Mr.  Archibald  Baskerville,  late  midshipman 
on  the  continental  ship  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
dodging  back  and  forth  behind  the  women's 
petticoats,  and  always  managing  to  keep  the 
buxom  form  of  one  of  their  ladyships,  as  the 
officer  had  called  them,  between  him  and  his  as- 
sailants. Meanwhile,  what  with  the  scuffle,  the 
sneezing  from  the  snuff  which  the  landlady  had 
so  freely  distributed,  and  the  roars  of  laughter 
with  which  the  combat  was  witnessed,  the  cries 
and  shouts,  there  was  a  noise  like  Bedlam ;  but 
Archy,  anxiously  dodging  hither  and  yon,  found 
nothing  to  laugh  at  in  his  somewhat  grotesque 
circumstances.  The  fight  was  desperate,  the  ma- 
noeuvring masterly — but,  at  last,  a  young  lieu- 
tenant with  a  long  arm  seized  Archy  from  be- 
hind Hizzy's  skirts,  and  giving  him  a  clip  on  the 
ear,  he  suddenly  fell  over,  and  the  world  became 
a  blank  to  him ;  he  heard  not  another  sound  and 
knew  nothing  more  of  the  fight  with  the  press- 
gang. 


CHAPTER  VI 

WHEN  Archy  came  to  himself  he  was  lying 
in  a  comfortable  berth  in  a  cabin  on  board  ship. 
This  much  he  -dimly  realized  when  he  waked  as 
if  from  a  long  and  dreamless  sleep.  It  took  him  a 
little  while  to  understand  this.  At  first  it  seemed 
quite  natural ;  he  thought  he  was  on  the  old  Bon 
Ilomme  Richard ;  and  when  the  faint  memories 
of  Bellingham  Castle  and  his  grandfather  and 
Colonel  Baskerville  floated  into  his  mind,  he 
thought  it  was  a  half -forgotten  dream.  But  by 
degrees  his  clouded  intelligence  grew  clear,  he 
remembered  everything  —  the  fight  in  the  tav- 
ern, the  blow  that  deprived  him  of  conscious- 
ness—  and,  suddenly  raising  himself  in  his 
berth,  he  began  to  bawl,  "  Halloo,  there  !  Hal- 
loo!" 

A  quiet  man  who  had  been  sitting  just  outside 
the  cabin  door  came  in  at  this. 

"  I  wish  to  be  put  ashore  instantly,"  said 
Archy,  angrity.  "  I  was  carried  off  by  a  lot  of 
villains  in  a  press-gang  last  night,  and  I  demand 


THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION  83 

to  see  the  captain  and  to  be  sent  ashore  imme- 
diately— immediately,  do  you  hear?" 

The  quiet  man  grinned  exasperatingly.  "I 
reckons,  sir,  'twill  be  a  good  while  afore  your  foot 
touches  dry  land.  We  are  now  in  the  Bay  of 
Biscay,  latitude  47  degrees,  longitude  3  east  from 
Greenwich,  as  I  hearn  the  sailing  -  master  tell 
the  cap'n  just  now — and  he'd  be  mighty  willin' 
to  oblige  you,  but  I  hardly  thinks  as  he'll  be 
able  to  set  you  ashore  immediate." 

"  Where  am  I  ?"  asked  Archy,  in  a  dazed  way. 
"What  ship  is  this?" 

"  This  here  ship,  sir,  is  the  Royal  George ',  flag- 
ship of  Rear- Admiral  Digby,  Cap'n  Fulke,  and 
we  are  carryin'  all  the  sail  that  dratted  con- 
voy will  let  us  for  Gibralty,  with  the  rest  o'  Sir 
George  Rodney's  fleet — good  luck  to  'em." 

It  took  several  minutes  for  Archy  to  digest 
this.  He  was  too  staggered  by  what  he  had 
heard  to  make  any  further  inquiries,  but  his 
quiet  friend  proved  communicative  enough. 

"  You're  in  the  sick-bay  of  the  Royal  George, 
sir,  and  I'm  the  sick-bay  nurse.  It  seems  as  how 
the  officers  thought  as  they'd  git  a  good  press 
at  the  York  Assizes.  We  was  lay  in'  off  the 
mouth  of  the  Humber,  waitin'  for  the  rest  o'  the 
convoy  from  Ireland,  and  some  o'  the  men  de- 


84  THE    BOOK    OF    THE    LION 

serted,  though  we  had  left  Plymouth  o'  purpose, 
as  soon  as  we  got  our  complement,  to  keep  the 
men  aboard.  But  they  got  away  in  spite  o'  our 
keepin'  a  sharp  lookout,  and  the  officers,  as  I 
say,  went  to  look  after  some  others  to  fill  their 
places.  You  took  a  hand  in  a  scrimmage,  sir,  in 
a  tavern,  and  the  officers  wanted  to  nab  you 
just  to  git  even  with  you ;  but  that  blow  on  the 
head  was  unexpected  sharp.  Just  as  you  dropped 
they  heard  the  constables  coming.  York  ain't 
no  seaport  town,  and  the  constables  don't  know 
enough  to  let  a  press-gang  alone  while  it  is 
mindin'  its  own  business ;  so  our  men  had  to  cut 
and  run,  and  they  brought  you  off  with  'em,  sir, 
thinkin'  you'd  peach  on  'em  if  they  left  you  be- 
hind. But  they  meant,  as  soon  as  daylight  come, 
to  leave  you  at  some  village  on  the  road  and  let 
you  make  your  way  back  to  York,  for  they  see 
you  was  a  gentleman,  sir.  When  daylight  come, 
though,  you  was  still  layin'  like  a  log,  and  they 
was  right  at  the  place  where  the  boat  was  to 
meet  'em;  and  when  they  got  down  to  the  mouth 
o'  the  Humber  there  lay  the  Royal  George  with 
the  bluepeter  flying,  so  they  just  had  to  hustle 
you  on  board  and  turn  you  over  to  the  surgeon, 
or  else  leave  you  to  die  on  the  shore.  So  they 
brought  you  off,  and  that's  six  days  ago,  and 


THE    BOOK   OF   THE    LION  85 

this  is  the  first  time,  sir,  you  have  opened  your 
peepers  since,  and  I  must  go  and  tell  the  sur- 
geon." 

Archy  lay  there  alone  for  a  few  moments, 
feeling  strangely  weak.  The  reaction  of  his  first 
awakening  was  upon  him.  Presently,  a  tall,  raw- 
boned,  red -headed  surgeon  entered,  and  intro- 
duced himself  in  a  manner  not  unkind. 

"  I  am  Dr.  MacBean — at  your  service,  sir. 
Glad  to  see  you  so  much  better.  You  have  had 
a  close  shave  in  more  ways  than  one  " — Archy 
put  his  hand  to  his  head  to  find  that  every 
hair  had  been  shaved  off,  and  his  head  was  as 
bare  as  a  peeled  onion — "  but  we  have  pulled  you 
through.  I  suppose  you  remember  the  circum- 
stances of  your  finding  yourself  with  our  men." 

"I  remember  the  fight  with  the  press-gang, 
but  I  got  a  blow  that  stunned  me,  and  don't 
recollect  anything  more." 

"We  saw  that  you  were  a  gentleman,  sir,  as 
soon  as  you  were  brought  aboard,  and  we  re- 
gretted the  anxiety  your  family  and  friends 
must  feel  on  your  account.  No  doubt  Admiral 
Digby  will  take  the  first  opportunity  of  ac- 
quainting them  with  your  situation,  and  if  we 
meet  a  ship  homeward  bound,  you  will  be  trans- 
ferred." 


86  THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION 

"But  England  is  not  my  home,"  explained 
Archy,  in  a  troubled  voice.  "I  am  an  Ameri- 
can midshipman  on  parole.  I  was  merely  visit- 
ing my  grandfather,  Lord  Bellingham,  when  I 
went  to  York  —  and  —  my  name  is  Archibald 
Baskerville,  and — "  Archy  stopped  through 
weakness. 

"  There,  there ;  you  have  talked  enough,"  said 
Dr.  MacBean,  thinking  his  patient  was  off  again 
into  vagaries. 

But  when  he  went  to  report  to  the  captain, 
who  happened  to  be  on  deck  conversing  with 
the  Admiral,  he  had  reason  to  know  that  Archy 
was  entirely  sane  in  the  account  he  had  given  of 
himself.  Admiral  Digby  had  heard  of  the  young 
rebel,  grandson  of  Lord  Bellingham,  and  brought 
home  by  Admiral  Kempenfelt  in  the  Thunderer. 
He  knew  that  Lord  Bellingham's  seat  was  in 
Yorkshire,  and  that,  as  Lord -lieutenant  of  the 
East  Biding,  he  would  be  present  at  the  York 
Assizes,  and  he  had  no  doubt  that  Archy  was  just 
what  he  represented  himself  to  be. 

"  I'll  go  below  and  see  the  youngster  myself," 
said  the  Admiral,  and  off  he  marched.  As  he 
entered  the  little  cabin  Archy  opened  his  eyes 
languidly,  but  the  very  sight  of  Admiral  Digby 
was  interesting  and  inspiring.  A  perfect  type 


THE   BOOK   OF   THE   LION  87 

of  the  British  sailor,  his  kind  though  firm  glance 
and  his  cheery  manner  were  like  a  breath  of  the 
strong  salt  air. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Baskerville,  you  have  had  ill-luck," 
began  the  Admiral,  cordially ;  "  but  never  fear, 
sir ;  you  will  be  sent  home  by  the  first  chance, 
and  meanwhile  we  will  have  the  pleasure  of  your 
company.  I  understand  you  were  with  my  old 
friend  Kempenfelt?" 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Archy,  now  feeling  quite 
bright  and  strong,  and  every  inch  Archy  Basker- 
ville, "  the  Admiral  was  very  kind  to  me.  He 
knew  my  grandfather,  and  he  lent  me  some 
money  —  oh,  Jupiter  !"  exclaimed  Archy,  sud- 
denly, "  how  will  I  ever  return  that  money !" 

Admiral  Digby  roared  out  laughing  at  this. 
"  No  doubt  Lord  Bellingham  will  see  to  that ; 
but  when  we  lend  money  to  midshipmen  in  our 
service  we  feel  that  it  is  casting  our  bread  upon 
the  waters." 

"  I  dare  say  it  is  the  same  with  us,  sir,"  replied 
Archy.  "  But  there  is  nobody  to  lend  us  any  on 
this  side  of  the  water.  Even  Commodore  Jones 
has  often  wanted  money  for  a  dinner,  and  that, 
too,  in  France,  where  they  profess  to  be  our 
allies." 

"Mr.  Baskerville,"  said  the  Admiral,  seating 


88  THE    KOCK   OF   THE   LION 

himself  on  the  one  stool  in  the  cabin,  "  I  should 
like,  when  you  are  able,  to  hear  the  story  of  that 
remarkable  man.  I  do  not  share  the  prejudices 
of  my  countrymen  towards  him." 

"  Then  you  can  understand,  sir,"  replied  Archy, 
"the  devotion  that  his  own  officers  feel  for 
him." 

"Perfectly.  Now  tell  me  if  anything  has 
been  done  towards  your  exchange,  for  you  are 
indebted  to  Jones  for  a  system  of  exchange." 

"  Nothing  has  been  done,  sir.  I  was  reported 
to  the  Admiralty  when  I  was  captured,  and  when 
I  landed  at  Portsmouth  from  the  Thunderer  I 
went  up  to  London  and  reported  myself.  Then 
I  went  to  my  grandfather's,  Bellingham  Castle, 
and  expected  to  hear  pretty  soon  from  the  Ad- 
miralt}7.  I  know  that  exchanges  have  been 
made,  but  my  name  has  not  been  among  them." 

Something  like  a  smile  flitted  over  Admiral 
Digby's  face  at  this,  and  Archy's  sharp  wits  in- 
terpreted it. 

"I  have  been  thinking,  sir,"  he  continued, 
"that  my  grandfather,  instead  of  helping  for- 
ward my  exchange  so  I  can  return  to  France,  is 
rather  preventing  it." 

"  I  understand  that  you  are  Lord  Bellingham's 
heir,"  responded  the  Admiral. 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE    LION  89 

"  No,  sir.  Heir  only  to  the  title  I  can't  use. 
The  entail  is  cut." 

"Your  grandfather,  no  doubt,  is  anxious  for 
you  to  live  in  England  with  him.  In  that  case 
you  would  have  a  splendid  future  before  you." 

"If  you  had  tried  living  with  Lord  Belling- 
ham — "  began  Archy ;  then  stopped.  His  grand- 
father had  certainly  been  very  kind  to  him,  and 
the  shovel  and  tongs  and  boot-jacks  and  other 
impedimenta  which  Lord  Bellingham  so  freely 
distributed  in  his  rages  had  never  flown  in 
Archy's  direction.  Admiral  Digby  laughed  out- 
right. 

"  There  are  very  few  persons  in  England  or 
Scotland  who  don't  know  about  Lord  Belling- 
hara,"  he  said.  "  But  to  return  to  yourself.  As 
soon  as  you  are  able  to  leave  your  berth  you  will 
become  the  guest  of  the  gunroom  mess,  and  then 
I  shall  hope  to  have  the  pleasure  of  your  com- 
pany occasionally  in  the  great  cabin.  As  soon 
as  we  meet  a  homeward-bound  vessel  you  shall 
be  put  aboard  of  her,  whether  it  be  before  or 
after  we  reach  Gibraltar.  And  now  good-day 
to  you,  and  may  you  soon  be  on  deck  again." 

After  the  Admiral  left  him  Archy  lay  there  a 
little  time  longer,  when  it  suddenly  occurred  to 
him  that  he  was  hungry.  He  bawled  for  the 


90  THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION 

sick-bay  nurse,  and  when  the  man  came  ordered 
him  to  bring  him  some  of  everything  that  was 
served  in  the  galley.  The  man  followed  these 
directions,  and  Archy,  finding  his  midshipman's 
appetite  returning  in  full  force,  devoured  every- 
thing in  sight.  Just  as  the  last  scrap  of  pudding 
disappeared  Dr.  MacBean  entered. 

"It  is  just  time,  my  young  friend,"  blandly 
remarked  the  surgeon,  "that  you  may  have  a 
light  meal  of  gruel  served  you,  but  nothing  solid 
— nothing  whatever  of  that  kind." 

"  Much  obliged,  sir,"  answered  Archy,  "  but  I 
have  just  finished  a  glorious  meal — pea-soup,  salt 
horse,  potatoes,  and  pudding — and  I  feel  about  a 
hundred  times  better." 

"Very  well,"  said  the  surgeon,  dryly,  in  his 
broad  Scotch  accent.  "  I  have  always  said  that 
the  only  way  to  kill  a  midshipman  is  to  cut  off 
his  head  and  throw  the  head  away;  otherwise  he 
will  come  to  life,  sure.  There  is  a  young  man 
on  board  now  who  was  shipwrecked,  had  an  arm 
and  three  ribs  broken,  survived  a  Spanish  doc- 
tor, and  is  apparently  as  good  as  new.  You  two 
must  be  first  cousins." 

Dr.  MacBean  did  not  know  he  was  a  prophet. 
When  the  doctor  left  him  Archy  got  up  quietly, 
and,  dressing  himself  as  fast  as  he  could,  made 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION  91 

for  the  deck.  He  found  himself  weaker  than  he 
expected,  and  as  he  reached  the  top  of  the  main- 
hatch  he  sat  down  awhile  to  rest  himself.  It 
was  a  sunny  afternoon,  mild  for  the  season,  and 
the  vast  deck  of  the  great  ship  of  the  line  was 
alive  with  men  as  she  ploughed  her  way  majes- 
tically over  the  waters.  As  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach  the  sea  was  flecked  with  sails.  The  "  drat- 
ted convoy,"  as  the  sick-bay  nurse  called  it,  con- 
sisted of  a  great  number  of  store-ships  containing 
relief  for  the  starving  but  indomitable  garrison 
at  Gibraltar,  under  General  Sir  George  Eliot. 
A  huge  fleet,  under  Sir  George  Rodney,  escorted 
it,  and  the  men-of-war,  compelled  to  carry  re- 
duced sail,  so  as  to  keep  up  with  the  slow  supply- 
ships,  were  formed  in  double  column  in  the  rear 
of  the  convoy.  The  Royal  George  led  the  left 
wing. 

Presently,  in  the  bright  afternoon,  they  saw  a 
ship  approaching  them  on  the  opposite  tack.  The 
Royal  George  was  in  advance  of  the  rest  of  the 
squadron,  and  as  the  stranger  neared  them  it  was 
plain,  from  the  squareness  of  her  rig,  that  she  was 
a  ship  of  war  and  she  flew  the  Union  Jack.  When 
she  was  nearly  abeam  of  the  Royal  George  she 
kept  her  topsails  shaking  and  broke  out  a  signal 
flag.  The  first  lieutenant,  who  was  on  the  bridge, 


92  THE   BOOK   OF   THE   LION 

then  called  out  to  a  young  officer  who  was  run- 
ning up  the  ladder : 

"  Mr.  Langton,  stand  by  for  signals !" 

Every  eye  was  fixed  on  the  advancing  ship 
except  Archy's.  The  name,  called  out  in  the  lieu- 
tenant's clear  voice,  had  thrilled  him,  and  when 
he  looked  up  there  was  Langton,  risen  from  the 
dead,  as  it  were,  standing  in  full  sight  and  hear- 
ing of  him — Langton,  whom  he  had  seen  drowned 
before  his  eyes,  as  he  thought. 

The  shock  and  surprise  of  it,  in  his  weak  state, 
stunned  Archy.  His  brain  reeled,  he  instinctively 
threw  out  his  arms  to  keep  from  falling  over,  and 
for  a  few  minutes  lay,  rather  than  sat,  on  the  step 
of  the  companion-way,  only  half  conscious  of  his 
surroundings.  But  joy  is  exhilarating,  and  sud- 
denly a  great  wave  of  life  and  happiness  seemed 
to  flow  upon  him.  Not  only  was  he  deeply  at- 
tached to  Langton,  but  the  joy  that  would  be 
given  to  so  many  persons — to  Langton's  heart- 
broken mother  and  sisters,  to  Lord  Bellinghara, 
to  Colonel  Baskerville — when  they  knew  that  he 
was  alive,  was  like  the  breath  of  life. 

After  the  first  few  moments  Archy  became 
preternaturally  alert  to  what  was  going  on.  The 
two  ships  moving  slowly,  all  the  signals  of  the 
new-comer  could  be  easily  read,  and  in  the  per- 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION  98 

feet  silence,  the  wind  being  in  the  right  di- 
rection, every  word  that  Langton  uttered  as  he 
spoke  to  the  Admiral  and  captain  could  be 
heard. 

"  The  garrison  at  Gibraltar  is  in  a  very  critical 
state.  The  Spaniards  have  besieged  it  hotly  since 
the  12th  of  September.  The  Kock  is  impregna- 
ble, but  the  garrison  is  near  starvation.  It  has 
heard  of  the  relief  on  the  way,  but  if  it  does  not 
come  soon  it  will  be  too  late." 

The  stranger  then  signalled  "  Good-bye,"  filled 
her  sails,  and  proceeded  on  her  way.  On  board 
the  Royal  George  the  painful  impression  made 
by  the  news  they  had  just  heard  was  obvious. 
The  officers  collected  in  groups  about  the  quar- 
ter -  deck,  while  forward  the  men  talked  over 
what  they  had  seen,  as  several  of  them  could 
make  a  shift  to  read  the  signals. 

In  a  few  moments  Langton  came  stepping 
briskly  and  gracefully  along  the  deck  amidships. 
As  he  approached  Archy  rose  to  his  feet  and 
steadied  himself.  "When  they  were  not  more 
than  a  yard  apart  their  eyes  met. 

They  stood  staring  at  each  other  for  a  full 
minute,  and  then  Archy — the  gay,  the  debonair, 
the  impetuous — was  the  first  to  show  weakness. 
He  trembled  like  a  girl,  and  when  Langton  put 


94  THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

both  hands  on  his  shoulders  he  almost  bad  to 
hold  Archy  up. 

"  I  thought  you  were  drowned !"  gasped  Archy. 

"  So  I  thought  myself,  and  a  great  many  other 
persons  too.  But  you — you  are  as  white  as  a 
sheet;  and  where  is  your  hair?  and  how,  in 
Heaven's  name,  came  you  on  the  Royal  George  ?" 

"  I  am  the  fellow  that  was  carried  off  by  the 
press-gang.  No  one  knew  my  name  until  an 
hour  or  two  ago.  I  have  many  things  to  tell 
you — things  that  will  surprise  you.  But  do  you 
tell  me  first  how  you  came  to  life,  for  I  swear  I 
saw  you  dead." 

"  I  was  very  near  it  when  I  came  to  myself, 
thrown  high  and  dry  on  the  rocks  where  the  poor 
Seahorse  went  to  pieces.  Some  fishermen  in  the 
tunny  fisheries  found  me,  and  I  was  a  month 
between  life  and  death  in  a  hut  near  those  very 
rocks,  with  a  Spanish  doctor  who  spoke  no  English 
or  French,  and  I  spoke  no  Spanish.  I  suppose, 
as  Dr.  MacBean  would  say,  if  it  were  possible  to 
kill  a  midshipman  by  ordinary  means  I  should 
not  be  here  now ;  but  I  escaped  with  my  life,  in 
spite  of  the  doctor.  It  is  a  long  story  how  I  got 
to  Barcelona  and  from  thence  to  England ;  and 
within  a  week  from  the  time  I  landed  at  Ply- 
mouth I  was  ordered  to  this  ship.  As  there  is 


THE    BOCK   OF   THE   LION  95 

fighting  before  us,  I  could  not  ask  for  leave,  even 
to  see  my  dear  mother;  but  I  wrote  her,  and  I 
hope  she  knows  by  this  time  that  I  am  still  alive 
to  love  her  and  plague  her." 

"  Can  you  come  below  with  me  ?  I  have  some- 
thing important  to  tell  you." 

"  My  watch  is  up,  but  I  must  go  below  on  an 
errand.  I  am  as  anxious  to  hear  as  you  are  to 
tell.  I  will  be  with  you  in  five  minutes." 

And  Langton  ran  below,  leaving  Archy  almost 
doubting  whether,  after  all,  he  had  really  seen 
his  friend  in  the  flesh. 


CHAPTER  VII 

ARCHT  went  below,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
Langton  bounded  into  the  little  cabin.  Archy, 
who  was  of  a  demonstrative  nature,  seized  him 
and  hugged  him  hard,  and  Langton  seemed 
equally  as  overjoyed  to  see  him. 

"  Langton,"  were  Archy's  first  words,  "  do  you 
know  who  you  are  ?" 

Langton  looked  at  him  keenly  instead  of  re- 
plying. He  thought  perhaps  Dr.  MacBean  had 
let  his  patient  out  of  bed  too  soon. 

"  I  say,"  said  Archy,  earnestly,  "  do  you  know 
that  you  are  my  first  cousin  ?" 

Langton  was  sure  then  that  Archy's  brain  was 
still  unsettled  by  the  clip  over  the  ear  he  had  got. 

"  Yes,  yes,  I  know  it,"  he  answered,  soothing- 
ly; "it's  all  right.  Don't  vex  yourself  about  it, 
though." 

"But,  Langton,  I  know  that  you  are  Lord  Bel- 
lingham's  grandson,"  cried  Archy. 

A  deep  flush  overspread  Langton's  handsome 
face. 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION  97 

"  I  know  it,  too ;  but  he  drove  my  mother  out 
of  his  house  for  marrying  my  father — an  honor- 
able soldier,  an  honest  gentleman,  and  a  better 
man  than  Lord  Bellingham." 

"  I  believe  you." 

"  And  as  he  treated  my  mother  so  ill  and  in- 
sulted my  father,  I  have  no  desire  for  the  world 
to  know  that  I  am  his  grandson." 

"  But  he  did  the  same  by  my  father  and 
mother.  My  father  was  his  only  son,  and  he 
went  to  America,  and  that  is  how  I  came  to  be 
an  American." 

"  I  did  not  know  that.  My  mother  told  me 
she  had  an  only  brother ;  that  he  had  left  Eng- 
land, and  had  given  up  all  communication  with 
his  family.  It  is  true  that  when  I  heard  your 
name — Baskerville — I  remembered  that  it  had 
been  my  mother's  name ;  but  as  you  never  spoke 
of  any  English  relatives,  I  was  no  prophet  to 
discover  that  we  were  first  cousins.  Why,"  con- 
tinued Langton,  saying  what  everybody  else  did, 
*•  you  are  the  heir !" 

"  No,  I  am  not.  You  are  much  more  likely 
to  be  master  of  Bellingham  than  I.  Do  you 
suppose  Lord  Bellingham  would  ever  make  an 
American  his  heir?  Oh,  you  don't  know  him. 
But  you  ought  to  know  our  uncle,  Colonel 


98  THE   KOCK    OF   THE    LION 

Baskerville— glorious  old  chap.     Did  you  never 
hear  of  him  ?" 

"  Yes,  but  he  was  in  India ;  and  you  forget 
that  I  left  home  when  I  was  eleven  years  old,  and 
I  did  not  much  care  for  family  histories  then. 
Why,  however,  did  you  never  mention  to  me  that 
Lord  Bellingham  was  your  grandfather  ?" 

"Because  my  commodore,  the  great  Paul 
Jones,  advised  me  that  the  less  I  said  about  it 
the  better  as  long  as  I  was  in  the  American 
Navy ;  and  he  warned  me  if  I  were  captured  at 
any  time  that  it  might  go  the  harder  with  me 
if  it  was  known,  that  I  was  of  an  English  family. 
The  day  I  left  the  Seahorse,  when  I  went  into 
the  cabin  to  say  good-bye  to  Captain  Lockyer, 
and  get  his  letter  to  Admiral  Kempenfelt,  he 
had  an  open  'Peerage  and  Baronetage'  before 
him.  He  asked  me  one  or  two  questions  about 
my  father's  and  mother's  names,  and  then  quiet- 
ly wrote,  before  my  face,  that  I  was  Lord  Bell- 
ingham's  grandson.  Foolishly  enough,  I  thought 
when  I  got  to  England  that  my  grandfather 
might  help  me  to  get  exchanged.  But  Commo 
dore  Jones  was  right — it  went  the  harder  with 
me  on  that  account,  and  I  don't  propose  to 
trust  myself  shortly  within  reach  of  the  Admir- 
alty. I  shall  take  my  chances  at  Gibraltar." 


THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION  99 

"  You  always  were,  and  always  will  be,  a  fel- 
low for  adventure.  Now,  tell  me  all  that  has 
befallen  you — and,  by  George !  how  comical  you 
look  without  any  hair !" 

Archy  plunged  into  his  story.  He  told  it  with 
fire  and  energy.  Langton  listened,  deeply  in- 
terested, and  only  interrupted  the  recital  occa- 
sionally by  gusts  of  laughter  when  Archy  told 
of  some  of  the  peculiarly  odd  circumstances  that 
had  happened  to  him.  Then  Langton  told  his 
story.  There  was  nothing  to  laugh  at  in  that ; 
it  was  only  a  modest  history  of  his  sufferings 
since  they  had  parted,  not  the  least  of  which 
was  the  cruel  disappointment  of  leaving  England 
without  seeing  his  mother  and  sisters. 

"  There  is  not  much  money  at  home  to  spare," 
he  said ;  "  so,  besides  that  I  could  not  ask  for 
leave  when  ordered  for  active  service,  I  thought 
I  could  benefit  my  mother  most  by  going  where 
there  was  likely  to  be  prize-money.  And  that 
gave  me  heart  to  come  cheerfully — as  I  had  to 
come  anyhow.  By  the  way,  do  you  know  we 
have  a  royal  prince  on  board  —  Prince  William 
Henry,  second  son  of  your  friend  King  George 
III.,  otherwise  known  in  the  mess  as  Billy.  He 
is  a  tolerably  good  sort  of  a  chap,  not  very 
bright,  but  takes  what  comes,  along  with  the 


100  THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

rest  of  us,  like  a  true-born  Briton.  You  will  see 
him  at  the  mess." 

"  If  I  go  to  the  mess.  But,  look  you,  Langton, 
I  do  not  budge  to  the  mess  unless  I  am  invited 
in  due  form,  just  as  you  invite  a  French  mid- 
shipman. As  Commodore  Jones  said  of  Admiral 
de  la  Motte  Piquet,  '  I  can  show  a  commission 
as  respectable  as  any  the  French  Admiral  can 
produce';  and  so  can  I." 

"  I  will  see  to  it  that  your  high  mightiness  is 
invited  in  form.  But  let  me  ask  you — how  is 
it  that  you  Americans,  who  preach  liberty  and 
equality  and  republican  simplicity,  and  all  that 
sort  of  thing,  are  invariably  haughty  and  punc- 
tilious to  the  last  degree  ?" 

"  Only  with  benighted  Europeans,  my  dear 
Langton.  With  each  other  we  are  like  the 
Spanish  grandees,  who,  I  have  heard,  call  each 
other  Nick  and  Jack  and  Rob — or  their  Spanish 
equivalents — and  are  all  ease  and  familiarity 
among  themselves.  But  when  they  meet  another 
less  great  than  themselves,  they  are  careful  to 
give  him  all  his  names  and  honors  and  titles." 

Langton  went  off  laughing  at  this,  and  left 
Archy  congratulating  himself  on  having  given  a 
clinching  reason,  until  he  recalled  Colonel  Bask- 
erville's  remark,  that  to  have  the  best  of  it  at 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  101 

repartee  was  by  no  means  to  have  the  best  of  it 
in  reason  and  common  -  sense.  Dear  old  chap ! 
Archy  meant,  the  very  next  day,  to  write  him 
a  long  letter,  telling  him  the  events  of  every 
moment  since  they  parted. 

Presently  a  note  was  brought  in,  addressed  to 
Midshipman  Baskerville,  late  of  the  continental 
ship  Bon  Homine  JRichard.  It  was  an  invitation 
to  be  the  guest  of  the  midshipmen's  mess.  Archy 
examined  it  carefully  and  critically.  Yes,  it  was 
in  due  form,  although  neither  the  writing,  the 
spelling,  nor  the  grammar  was  above  reproach. 
He  accepted  the  invitation,  and  signed  his  name 
and  rank  in  a  large,  bold  hand,  and  was  glad 
enough  to  do  so. 

Before  supper  was  ready  Archy  went  on 
deck  again.  Lounging  on  the  rail  was  a  little 
midshipman  who,  Archy  speedily  discovered, 
was  the  scion  of  royalty,  Prince  William.  A 
more  harmless,  quiet,  common-place  reefer  he 
had  never  seen.  The  twilight  was  fast  melting 
into  night,  and  Archy  was  watching  with  in- 
terest the  movements  of  the  fleet  and  convoy, 
larger  than  anything  of  the  kind  he  had  ever 
seen  before,  when  the  ship's  bell  clanged  out  sud- 
denly for  "  Fire  !"  Archy  suspected  that  it  was 
merely  a  fire-drill,  and  so  evidently  thought 


102  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

Prince  William,  for,  rousing  himself  and  seeing 
Admiral  Digby  near  him  unconcernedly  study- 
ing the  stars  through  his  glass,  the  young  Prince 
walked  leisurely  to  his  station,  and  was  the  last 
midshipman  to  take  his  place  at  the  head  of  his 
division 

The  Admiral's  eyes  flashed  —  that  was  not 
the  sort  of .  discipline  he  proposed  to  allow.  He 
glanced  up  at  the  bridge,  where  stood  Captain 
Fulke;  but  the  captain  either  did  not  see  the 
young  Prince's  dilatoriness  or  else  he  did  not 
choose  to  see  it.  Archy  watched  with  interest 
what  the  Admiral  would  do.  As  soon  as  the 
drill  was  over  and  the  men  had  left  their  quar- 
ters, the  Prince  passed  close  by  the  Admiral,  who 
spoke  sharply  to  him. 

"Your  Royal  Highness  will  remember  that 
this  is  his  Majesty's  ship  Royal  George,  and  not 
a  hayfield  at  harvest  time.  Masthead,  sir." 

Prince  William,  whose  rosy  face  instantly  grew 
a  picture  of  woe,  nevertheless  made  his  way  aloft 
with  much  greater  alacrity  than  he  had  made  his 
station.  The  men  grinned  slyly  at  each  other, 
and  a  midshipman  behind  the  Admiral  made 
a  motion  as  if  to  pat  him  on  the  back.  Archy 
opened  his  eyes  wide — this  was  discipline,  indeed. 

Presently  the  Admiral  passed  near  him.    Archy 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  103 

saluted  him  respectfully,  and  hoped  the  Ad- 
miral would  speak  to  him,  and  was  not  disap- 
pointed. 

"I  hear  that  you  and  young  Langton  have 
found  yourselves  to  be  first  cousins,  Mr.  Basker- 
ville,"  he  said. 

"Yes,  sir;  and  the  best  of  friends  we  were 
from  the  day  we  met." 

"  You  have  had  considerable  experience  as  a 
prisoner  on  British  ships,  eh  ?  First,  on  the  Sea- 
horse, then  on  the  Thunderer,  and  now  on  the 
Royal  George^ 

"  I  have  always  been  well  treated,  sir.  That 
is,  if  I  wasn't  well  treated  in  the  beginning,  I 
was  in  the  end." 

"  That  speaks  well  for  you,  sir.  It  is  some- 
times difficult  to  get  our  young  officers  to  treat 
Americans  with  respect ;  but  I,  among  others — 
notably  Admiral  Keppel — have  always  insisted 
that  they  be  accorded  all  the  consideration  of 
prisoners  of  war,  even  before  the  late  formal 
agreement  was  made." 

"  I,  for  one,  will  remember  it  with  gratitude, 
sir.  But,  may  I  say  to  you,  sir,  that  since  our 
conversation  this  afternoon  I  have  been  reflect- 
ing upon  my  circumstances,  and  I  think  my 
chances  of  exchange  will  be  better  at  Gibral- 


104  THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION 

tar  than  if  I  were  to  be  returned  to  England,  as 
you  kindly  offered.  No  doubt  the  Spaniards 
will  soon  raise  the  siege,  and  then  I  can  easily 
get  to  France  on  my  parole." 

"No  doubt — no  doubt — the  Spaniards  must 
soon  give  it  up,  and  you  would  probably  be 
nearer  your  object." 

The  Spaniards  were  never  farther  from  giving 
it  up  than  at  the  very  moment  these  words  were 
uttered. 

As  the  Admiral  walked  on,  Archy  was  left 
alone.  He  made  no  move  towards  speaking  to 
the  number  of  officers  that  he  saw  standing  or 
walking  about;  but  Admiral  Digby's  example 
and  well-known  wishes  were  not  lost  on  them, 
and  presently  two  or  three  came  up  civilly  enough 
and  talked  with  him,  and  then  it  was  supper- 
time,  and  Langton  coming  after  him,  the  two 
went  below  to  those  regions,  in  the  depths  of  the 
ship,  which  were  thought  good  enough  for  the 
midshipmen.  Archy  was  politely  received,  though 
not  with  the  cordiality  that  would  have  been 
extended  to  a  French  midshipman.  But  Langton 
was  a  prime  favorite  in  the  mess,  and  the  story 
of  his  connection  with  Archy,  and  their  identical 
relationship  to  Lord  Bellingham,  had  spread  over 
the  ship  like  wildfire.  Therefore,  the  tempera- 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  105 

ture  of  Archy's  reception  was  sensibly  raised 
when  Langton  announced : 

"Gentlemen,  Mr.  Baskerville  is  my  cousin, 
and  we  were  chums  before  we  knew  we  were 
cousins.  Mr.  Baskerville  is  heir  to  a  peerage  if 
he  wants  it,  but  he  swears  he  had  rather  be  an 
American,  which  at  least  shows  that  he  has  a 
spirit  of  his  own.  So,  I  say,  pity  it  is  that  all 
such  are  not  Englishmen." 

"  Agreed,"  piped  up  a  very  small  midshipman, 
which  caused  a  roar  of  laughter  that  covered  the 
youngster  with  confusion. 

Archy  observed  that  Prince  William  was  not 
at  the  table,  and  some  one  asking  what  had  be- 
come of  him,  one  of  the  older  midshipmen  said : 

"  Poor  devil !  When  my  relief  reported  I  man- 
aged to  bring  in  a  remark  to  the  first  lieutenant 
about  Billy,  but  the  hint  was  not  taken,  so  I  fancy 
he  is  still  in  the  cross-trees." 

Just  then,  however,  Billy  walked  in.  He  was 
greeted  with  a  chorus  of  jeers  and  cheers,  with 
inquiries  how  was  it  aloft,  and  was  he  going  to 
tell  his  father,  and  did  he  intend,  in  the  event  he 
came  to  the  throne,  to  make  Admiral  Digby  a 
peer,  under  the  title  of  Lord  Masthead,  and  oth- 
er remarks  of  a  facetious  nature.  Billy  took  all 
this  with  perfect  good  -  nature,  and  called  for 


106  n;E  KOCK  OF  TUK  LION 

boiled  beef  and  potatoes,  but  grew  decidedly 
sulky  when  he  heard  there  was  no  pudding. 

Archy  laughed  as  much  as  anybody  at  the 
chaff  going  on,  and,  as  he  had  a  peculiarly  rich 
and  ringing  laugh,  it  attracted  Billy's  attention, 
who,  without  minding  the  banter  of  his  com- 
rades, seemed  to  feel  himself  deeply  injured  by 
the  amusement  he  afforded  the  young  American. 
He  growled  out  something,  of  which  the  only 
distinct  words  were  "American  traitors  and 
rebels." 

There  was  a  dead  silence,  and  Archy  felt  that 
upon  his  conduct  at  that  very  moment  depend- 
ed the  opinion  of  every  person  in  the  ship.  He 
looked  the  Prince  squarely  in  the  eye,  and  said, 
quietly : 

"Perhaps  you  do  not  know  that  I  am  an 
American,  and  late  midshipman  on  the  conti- 
nental ship  Bon  Homme  Richard" 

"  Yes,  I  know  it,  and  damned  if  I  care,"  was 
his  Royal  Highness's  reply  to  this. 

The  silence  was  continued.  Langton,  with- 
out speaking  a  word,  smiled  slightly.  He  knew 
that  a  firm  bearing,  and  that  alone,  would  estab- 
lish Archy's  position  in  the  mess,  and,  having  con- 
siderable knowledge  of  that  young  gentleman, 
he  had  no  doubt  of  the  attitude  he  would  take. 


THE    ROCK    OF   THE   LION  107 

"I  might,  if  I  chose,  report  you  to  the  Ad- 
miral for  insulting  a  prisoner  of  war,"  said  Archy, 
in  his  most  nonchalant  manner,  "  but  reporting 
is  considered  a  deuced  ungentleman-like  thing  in 
our  service.  So  I  will  give  you  a  drubbing,  if 
you  will  fight  me,  as  soon  as  I  am  able.  I  am 
just  out  of  the  sick-bay." 

"  Oh,  Lord !"  cried  Billy,  "  I'll  fight  you  with 
all  the  pleasure  in  life,  but  as  for  the  Admiral — 
bad  luck  to  him — he  will  skin  me,  sure,  if  he 
finds  out  what  I  said." 

"  Don't  be  afraid,"  answered  Archy,  "  and  take 
a  few  boxing-lessons  if  you  can ;  it  will  not  save 
you  a  drubbing,  but  it  will  be  more  sport  to  the 
by-standers." 

"  Mr.  What's-your-name,"  said  Billy,  advanc- 
ing and  holding  out  his  hand,  "  you  are  a  gen- 
tleman, and  I  say  so,  and  I  shall  be  happy  to 
give  you  satisfaction  whenever  you  want  it." 

At  which,  the  British  sense  of  fair-play  being 
touched,  the  reefers  roared  out  a  cheer.  Billy 
stood,  blinking  and  smiling,  while  Archy  assumed 
the  air  of  a  modest  hero.  Great  interest  was 
aroused  in  the  steerage  by  this  prospective  battle 
of  the  giants.  Archy,  who  regained  his  health 
with  a  bound,  was  extremely  anxious  to  force 
events,  but  Langton,  who  was  his  backer,  would 


108  .         THE   KOCK    OF   THE    LION 

not  hear  of  it ;  he  meant  his  client  to  be  in  full 
fettle  when  he  tackled  the  scion  of  royalty. 
Meanwhile,  Archy  had  no  fault  whatever  to  find 
with  his  treatment  in  the  mess,  and  Billy  proved 
himself  to  be  one  of  the  kindest -hearted  and 
most  generous  and  unassuming  creatures  in  the 
world,  in  spite  of  being  rather  dull  and  foolish. 

At  last,  one  morning,  at  the  mess-table,  after 
an  unusually  jolly  supper  the  night  before,  when 
Billy  and  Archy  had  chummed  together  after 
the  most  approved  fashion  among  midshipmen, 
Billy  remarked,  sagely : 

"  I've  been  thinking,  Baskerville,  what  is  the 
use  of  our  fighting  ?  I  hate  fighting.  I  always 
get  the  worst  of  it.  But  I  can  do  it,  you  know." 

"Of  course.  So  can  I.  You  are  as  game  a 
fellow  as  I  ever  saw — and  the  object  of  fight- 
ing among  gentlemen  is  to  prove  they  are  game. 
If  the  mess  says  so,  let  us  consider  it  off." 

"  Why  not  ?"  replied  Billy,  with  a  grin,  looking 
around.  "  They  know  I  can  fight — I  have  fought 
'em;  but  there  ain't  any  use  in  fighting  unless 
one  is  obliged  to." 

"  Not  a  bit,"  said  Langton.  "  So,  if  you  please, 
I  shall  be  happy  to  consult  with  your  friend  as 
to  the  possibility  of  coming  to  an  honorable  ar- 
rangement." 


THE   BOCK    OF   THE    LION  109 

"  Good !"  was  Billy's  remark ;  "  and  let  me  tell 
you,  it  looks  to  me  " — here  Billy  cocked  his  eye 
with  great  knowingness — "as  if  we  will  have 
some  fighting  to  do  with  powder  and  ball  before 
long.  The  Admiral  has  not  had  the  ships  kept 
cleared  for  action  ever  since  we  began  to  ap- 
proach Cape  St.  Vincent  for  nothing." 

And  then  there  was  heard  resounding  through 
the  great  ship  the  boatswain's  pipe  calling  all 
hands  on  deck,  and  a  voice  was  heard  shouting 
in  the  gangway : 

"  The  Spanish  fleet  is  sighted !" 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ARCHY  ran  on  deck  as  fast  as  his  legs  could 
carry  him,  and  the  sight  that  met  his  gaze  was 
both  splendid  and  terrible.  They  were  off  Cape 
St.  Vincent,  and  the  weather  had  been  somewhat 
thick  all  the  morning ;  but,  a  little  while  before, 
the  sun  suddenly  blazed  out,  showing  them  Ad- 
miral de  Langara's  fleet  of  nine  ships  of  the  line 
and  two  frigates,  not  more  than  three  miles  off. 
A  smart  breeze  was  blowing,  and  the  Spaniards, 
who  seemed  to  have  known  first  of  their  own 
danger,  were  under  press  of  sail  trying  to  weath- 
er the  headland  before  they  would  be  cut  off  by 
Admiral  Rodney's  fleet  of  nineteen  sail  of  the 
line  and  four  frigates.  The  wind  was  carrying 
the  British  fleet  so  fast  towards  the  Spaniards 
that  the  signal  for  the  formation  of  the  line  of 
battle  was  already  shown  from  Admiral  Rod- 
ney's ship,  while  the  convoy  kept  together  in 
the  rear. 

Admiral  Rodney  had  no  fool  to  play  with  in 
Admiral  de  Langara,  who,  although  prepared  to 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION  111 

fight  if  compelled  to,  justly  declined  the  unequal 
combat  as  long  as  he  could. 

In  Archy's  brief  experience  of  naval  warfare 
he  had  never  seen  the  manoeuvres  of  a  great 
fleet,  and  he  watched  with  breathless  interest  the 
steadiness  and  precision  with  which  the  British 
fleet  spread  out  in  a  great  semicircle,  with  the 
fast  frigates  at  either  end  of  the  line,  and  the 
convoy  secure  behind  them.  The  ships  were  al- 
ready cleared  for  action,  and  a  single  tap  of  the 
drum  was  all  that  was  necessary  to  call  the  men 
to  quarters.  There  was  no  slowness  in  Prince 
William's  response  this  time.  He  was  at  his  sta- 
tion among  the  first,  and  if  he  had  a  wholesome 
awe  of  Admiral  Digby,  he  showed  a  manly  indif- 
ference to  the  Spaniards. 

Admiral  de  Langara  had  the  weather-gage  at 
first,  and  was  able  to  keep  it  for  over  two  hours ; 
and  in  that  time  the  Spaniards  were  slowly  but 
steadily  creeping  away  from  their  enemies.  Ad- 
miral Rodney  maintained  his  line  of  battle,  and 
showed  a  perfect  willingness  to  fight,  with  an 
unknown  and  frightfully  dangerous  shore  under 
his  lee.  But  the  wind  increasing  every  moment, 
the  line  began  to  straggle,  in  the  effort  to  claw 
ofif  shore. 

Archy  Baskerville,  a  deeply  interested  observ- 


112  THE    BOCK   OF   THB    LION 

er,  managed  to  establish  himself  just  aft  the 
bridge,  upon  which  stood  Admiral  Digby,  with 
Captain  Fulke  and  the  first  lieutenant.  Archy 
watched  Admiral  Digby,  alert  and  sailor -like, 
as  he  paced  up  and  down,  keeping  his  eye  on 
Admiral  Kodney's  ship,  from  which  the  signal 
for  the  line  of  battle  flew  steadily.  Langton 
presently  passed  Archy  and  whispered  to  him  : 

"  Watch  the  old  man.  He  is  in  a  boiling  rage. 
This  is  the  fastest  ship  of  the  line  in  the  fleet, 
and  if  the  signal  for  chasing  were  given  he'd  be 
alongside  one  of  those  big  three-deckers  in  half 
an  hour.  But  here  he  is,  under  easy  sail,  to  keep 
up  with  the  slow  coaches.  No  wonder  he  is  in  a 
stew." 

And  the  Admiral  proved  it  by  dashing  his 
glass  down  angrily  after  a  prolonged  stare  at 
Admiral  Rodney's  signal.  The  men  seemed  to 
understand  this  well  enough,  and  when  the  wind 
continued  to  rise,  and  they  were  obliged  to 
shorten  sail  as  much  as  they  dared,  they  gave 
a  loud  groan  when  the  order  was  shouted  out. 
The  wind  seemed  to  blow  from  all  points  of  the 
compass  at  once,  while  the  sky  became  black  and 
lowering.  The  Spanish  flag -ship,  the  Phwnix, 
was  falling  behind  a  little,  and  as  the  rocky  prom- 
ontory of  the  Cape  loomed  nearer,  the  chances 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  113 

of  this  ship  weathering  seemed  less  than  that  of 
the  rest  of  the  fleet.  Her  great  draught  forced 
her  to  keep  well  out  from  the  rocky  shore,  and 
she  lay  almost  in  the  path  of  the  Royal  George, 
not  more  than  two  miles  to  windward.  Archy, 
watching  Admiral  Rodney's  ship,  saw  by  the  dull 
and  clouded  light  a  change  of  signals,  and  above 
him,  on  the  bridge,  it  was  greeted  by  something 
like  a  shout  of  joy  from  Admiral  Digby. 

"  We  can  carry  all  hard  sail  now,  captain ;  there 
is  the  signal  for  chasing!"  cried  the  Admiral 
to  his  captain ;  and,  as  if  by  magic,  the  sailors 
sprang  into  the  rigging,  and,  with  a  rousing  cheer, 
everything  that  would  draw  was  shaken  out,  and 
the  Royal  George,  like  a  horse  under  the  spur, 
dashed  forward,  ahead  of  every  ship  in  the  fleet. 

Within  half  an  hour  she  was  near  enough  to 
the  Spanish  Admiral  to  fire  her  quarter-guns,  to 
which  the  Spaniard  replied  promptly ;  but  in  both 
cases  the  shot  fell  short. 

"  Never  mind,  my  lads !"  called  out  the  Ad- 
miral, jovially,  "  we  must  exchange  compliments 
before  we  get  down  to  work.  There's  no  real 
pleasure  to  be  had  until  we  are  alongside !" 

The  Phcenix,  having  a  choice  of  dangers,  and 
seeing  the  Royal  George  gaining  upon  her,  then 
quickly  changed  her  course  and  stood  inshore, 


114  THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

where  the  coast  was  fringed  with  mountains  of 
rocks,  as  if  some  giant  hand  had  strewed  them  there 
for  the  destruction  of  ships.  The  Royal  George 
did  not  hesitate  to  follow  her,  though,  and  tacked 
inshore  too.  From  the  manoeuvres  of  the  Span- 
iard, it  was  plain  that  she  had  an  experienced 
pilot  aboard ;  but  on  the  Royal  George  they  had 
no  better  assurance  of  water  under  the  keel  than 
could  be  found  by  continually  heaving  the  lead. 

From  the  rest  of  the  fleet  a  smart  cannonade 
was  now  begun  as  the  faster  ships  got  within 
range  of  the  Spaniards,  who,  caught  and  sur- 
rounded by  superior  force,  yet  prepared  to  de- 
fend themselves  gallantly. 

The  short  afternoon  was  now  closing  in,  and 
the  increasing  wind  and  the  wraith  of  storm- 
clouds  driving  across  the  pale  and  wintry  sky 
showed  all  those  brave  men  that  they  would  be 
called  upon  to  combat  waves  and  tempest  as 
well  as  shot  and  shell. 

The  Phoenix,  finding  it  impossible  to  weather 
the  headland  in  the  face  of  her  enemies,  prepared 
to  fight  in  a  large  bay,  which,  dangerous  enough 
in  all  weathers,  yet  gave  her  enough  sea-room  to 
save  her  if  skilfully  handled. 

The  Royal  George,  undaunted  by  the  hazard- 
ous circumstances  in  which  she  was  forced  to 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  115 

attack,  followed  her  antagonist.  At  the  same 
moment  each  ship  thundered  out  her  broadside ; 
but  the  wind  and  water  rose  so  high  that  most  of 
the  shots  were  ineffective,  although  fired  at  short 
range.  The  howling  of  the  wind  and  the  dash- 
ing of  the  waves  on  the  shore  were  soon  drowned 
in  the  roar  of  the  batteries  on  thirty-four  fighting 
ships,  for  the  engagement  soon  became  general. 
As  night  came  on  neither  storm  nor  battle  abat- 
ed. The  clouds  poured  forth  rain  and  wind  as 
they  were  swept  across  the  wild  night  sky.  The 
only  light  visible  was  the  flash  of  the  guns  and 
the  red  glare  of  the  battle  lanterns.  The  Span- 
ish were  outnumbered  more  than  two  to  one; 
but  they  were  favored  by  the  storm,  and  stood 
stubbornly  to  their  guns. 

On  board  the  Royal  George  the  slaughter  be- 
gan to  be  serious.  The  ship  required  the  most 
constant  manoeuvring  to  keep  her  off  the  rocks, 
and  there  was  enough  to  do,  and  more,  even  for 
the  enormous  crew  of  a  thousand  men  she  car- 
ried. Archy  was  not  one  to  sit  idly  by  and 
watch  when  he  could  help,  and  when  the  bear- 
ers to  carry  the  wounded  below  began  to  be  few, 
he  ran  forward,  and,  taking  one  end  of  a  stretch- 
er, did  yeoman's  service  in  helping.  About  mid- 
night, having  a  few  minutes  to  himself,  it  oc- 


116  THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

curred  to  him  that  he  was  hungry,  and  probably 
others  were  who  could  not  leave  their  stations. 
He  went  below,  and,  getting  some  bread  and 
cheese  from  one  of  the  stewards,  returned  to 
the  deck  and  distributed  his  provisions  liberally 
among  the  midshipmen,  not  forgetting  Prince 
William. 

"  Thank'ee,"  said  Billy,  gratefully.  "  I  wish  I 
was  in  your  place — nothing  to  do  but  to  watch 
how  the  Spaniards  take  a  beating,  instead  of 
having  to  fight  this  beastly  battery.  And  I 
don't  like  fighting— that  I  don't." 

Archy  passed  on,  laughing.  There  was  no 
doubt  that  Billy  possessed  the  courage  of  all  the 
Brunswickers,  and  was  exactly  the  same  Billy 
under  fire  as  sitting  around  the  mess-table. 

Langton  was  near  by,  and  Archy  was  troubled 
to  see  how  pale  and  exhausted  he  looked.  His 
former  terrible  experience  on  the  Spanish  coast 
had  not  been  without  its  effects,  and  Archy  saw 
that  nothing  but  Langton's  determined  will  and 
anxiety  to  do  his  duty  kept  him  from  dropping 
at  his  station.  Just  as  the  last  piece  of  cheese 
and  last  slice  of  bread  were  about  to  be  disposed 
of,  Archy  saw  the  Admiral  crossing  the  deck 
towards  him.  He  held  out  the  bread  and  cheese, 
and  the  Admiral  seized  it  with  enthusiasm. 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  117 

"  Thank  you,  Mr.  Baskerville.  Those  rascally 
stewards  seem  to  have  forgotten  us  up  here. 
We'll  give  them  a  keelhauling  for  it  as  soon  as 
the  wind  lulls !  Hanged  if  I  don't  think  it  deuced 
unhandsome  of  Admiral  de  Langara  to  make  us 
fight  in  this  awkward  cubby- hole  of  a  place! 
Did  you  ever  see  anything  like  this,  sir  ?" 

"  I  was  on  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  sir,  when 
she  took  the  Serapis.  We  had  good  enough 
•weather,  but  we  were  locked  together  two  hours, 
and  at  it  hammer  and  tongs  all  the  while." 

"Tim — ah — hum — I  say,  lieutenant,  I  think 
number  four  in  the  starboard  battery  is  doing 
remarkably  fine  work.  Mr.  Langton  in  com- 
mand? I  shall  remember  him  when  we  are 
through  with  these  persistent  Spanish  gentle- 
men." 

The  fire  from  several  of  the  Spanish  ships 
slackened  as  the  night  wore  on,  and  soon  after 
midnight  the  Monarca,  a  seventy-gun  ship,  blew 
up  with  a  terrific  crash  that  drowned  both  tem- 
pest and  battle.  Her  topmasts  and  sails  flew 
skyward,  and  the  wreckage  from  hergreat  masts 
and  spars  was  tossed  like  corks  over  the  black 
waters.  In  the  red  illumination  from-*sea  and 
sky  the  bodies  of  men,  dead  and  living,  were  seen 
floating,  and  the  cries  of  the  unfortunates  were 


118  THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

responded  to  by  several  of  the  British  ships  low- 
ering their  boats  in  the  teeth  of  the  gale,  and 
pulling  about  in  the  line  of  fire,  picking  up  the 
half-drowned  sailors. 

One  by  one  the  Spanish  ships  were  disabled 
and  forced  to  strike  their  colors,  but  the  flag- 
ship still  fought  on.  As  a  gray  and  pallid  dawn 
broke  over  the  stormy  ocean  and  the  drenched 
and  forbidding  -  looking  land,  it  was  seen  from 
the  Royal  George  that  her  antagonist  was  in 
desperate  straits.  Her  main-mast  had  gone  by 
the  board,  carrying  the  mizzen-mast  with  it, 
and  both  cumbered  the  deck  and  hung  over  the 
side,  entangled  in  a  mass  of  canvas  and  rigging. 
Many  of  her  guns  had  burst,  and  her  decks  were 
strewed  with  the  dead  and  wounded.  The  Span- 
ish Admiral,  however,  was  still  on  the  bridge, 
but  the  two  officers  with  him  were  evidently  jun- 
iors, showing  that  he  had  lost  his  captain  and 
first  lieutenant.  The  fire  of  the  Phoenix  was 
gradually  lessening,  and  about  daybreak  it  en- 
tirely ceased,  and  the  Spanish  colors  were  hauled 
down  amid  loud  cheering  from  the  Royal  George. 
The  Spaniards  had  made  a  good  fight,  and  the 
Royal  George^  although  not  so  badly  crippled  as 
her  opponent,  was  much  cut  up  aloft,  and  had 
several  shot-holes  in  her  hull. 


THE   ROOK   OF   THE    LION  119 

A  boat  was  immediately  lowered,  and  Prince 
William  was  given  the  command  of  her,  both  as 
a  compliment  to  himself  and  to  the  brave  Admiral 
de  Langara,  who  would  be  escorted  on  board  the 
Royal  George  by  a  king's  son.  It  was  uncertain 
whether  the  Spaniard  would  need  boats  to  bring 
the  prisoners  aboard,  or  whether  his  own  boats 
were  in  condition  to  do  so. 

Six  of  the  Spanish  ships  of  the  line  had  struck, 
one  had  blown  up,  while  in  the  distance  the  re- 
maining two  were  making  off  under  a  press  of 
sail.  In  Admiral  Rodney's  fleet  the  losses  in 
men  were  not  very  great,  but  the  terrible  dis- 
advantage at  which  he  had  fought,  and  the  bad 
weather,  left  them  still  battling  for  their  lives  on 
an  unknown  and  dangerous  coast,  with  six  dam- 
aged ships  to  take  care  of,  and  thousands  of 
prisoners.  No  ship  had  suffered  more  than  the 
Royal  George,  and  the  perilous  situation  in  which 
she  was  placed  became  more  evident  by  daylight. 
The  wind  was  blowing  directly  on  shore,  and  it 
became  necessary  to  put  on  all  the  sail  the  ship 
could  stand  in  order  to  keep  her  from  going  on 
the  rocks ;  but  her  masts  and  spars  were  so  cut 
up  that  it  seemed  every  moment  as  if  they  would 
all  come  down  at  once. 

Archy  watched  with  anxiety  as  an  effort  was 


120  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

made  to  set  the  main-sail.  He  said  to  himself, 
out  aloud : 

''  The  mast  can  never  stand  it." 

But  the  mast  did  stand  it,  although  bending 
and  quivering  under  the  strain  when  the  full 
force  of  the  wind  struck  the  sail,  and  the  ship, 
gathering  headway,  moved  a  little  farther  off 
from  the  menacing  shore,  on  which  the  roar  of 
breakers  could  be  distinctly  heard. 

Prince  William's  boat  was  now  approaching, 
and  Archy  could  see  the  erect  figure  of  the 
Spanish  Admiral  sitting  in  the  stern-sheets.  The 
boat  came  alongside,  but  poor  Billy  gave  the 
order  "  Oars  "  too  soon,  and  she  drifted  off  just  as 
the  line  was  thrown  to  her.  Instead  of  making 
another  effort  to  bring  her  up  to  the  lee  gang- 
way, Billy  breasted  along  the  side  until  he  caught 
the  stern  -  ladders,  and  was  just  about  to  pass 
the  Spanish  Admiral  through  the  quarter-gallery 
when  Admiral  Digby,  who  was  waiting  with  the 
captain  at  the  gangway,  with  marines  and  side- 
boys  to  receive  the  Spaniard,  bawled  out : 

"  Avast,  there !  What  are  you  doing,  sir  ?" 
Billy  needed  nothing  more  to  convince  him  of 
his  mistake,  and  he  immediately  made  for  the 
gangway.  In  a  little  while  Admiral  de  Langara 
came  over  the  side. 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  121 

As  soon  as  the  Spaniard's  foot  touched  the 
quarter-deck,  Admiral  Digby  advanced  with  un- 
covered head.  The  Spaniard  also  uncovered,  and, 
making  a  low  bow,  was  about  to  offer  his  sword. 

"  No,"  said  Admiral  Digby,  with  much  dignity, 
"  I  cannot  take  the  sword  of  so  brave  a  man.  It 
will  yet  do  great  things  for  your  country." 

De  Langara's  eyes  filled  with  tears,  as,  in  bro- 
ken English,  he  said  something  of  which  few 
comprehended  the  words,  but  all  understood  the 
meaning. 

Poor  Billy  then  came  over  the  side,  and  Ad- 
miral Digby,  to  make  sure  that  the  Spanish 
Admiral  knew  that  no  slight  was  intended  by 
bringing  him  to  the  forward  gangway,  said 
sternly  to  the  unlucky  scion  of  royalty : 

"  How,  sir !  have  you  not  yet  learned  to  bring  a 
boat  alongside  properly  ?  I  shall  not  forget  this, 
and,  when  time  serves,  I  will  give  you  a  lesson 
that  you  will  remember." 

Admiral  de  Langara  looked  in  amazement 
from  the  angry  Admiral  to  the  trembling  mid- 
shipman. 

"  No  wonder,"  he  remarked  to  Admiral  Digby, 
"  that  the  English  rule  the  seas,  when  the  son  of 
the  sovereign  is  made  to  submit  to  discipline  as 
any  other  midshipman  in  the  ship." 


122  THE    BOCK    OF   THE    LION 

Admiral  Digby  then  escorted  the  Spanish  Ad- 
miral to  his  cabin.  There  was  work  for  every- 
body to  do,  and  Archy  soon  found  himself  pressed 
into  service  again.  Powder  was  precious,  and  it 
was  necessary  to  save  what  had  already  been 
hoisted  on  deck,  and  to  get  the  fuses  and  car- 
tridges and  everything  else  in  place. 

The  wind  increasing  in  violence  prevented  the 
transfer  of  the  prisoners,  and  it  was  with  great 
difficulty  that  a  prize-crew  was  thrown  aboard 
of  the  Phanix.  And  then,  in  spite  of  the  vast 
concussion  of  hundreds  of  guns,  which  usually 
deadens  the  wind,  it  became  a  hurricane.  For 
two  days  and  nights  the  Royal  George  battled 
for  her  life,  and  every  time  the  Phoenix  disap- 
peared from  view  it  was  thought  she  had  gone 
to  the  bottom.  If  they  made  sail,  everything 
was  blown  from  the  bolt -ropes,  while  if  they 
stripped  the  ship  of  her  canvas  she  would  seem 
to  be  rushing  headlong  to  destruction.  But  at 
last  they  succeeded  in  bending  sails  that  stood 
the  terrific  strain.  The  officers  and  crew  nobly 
maintained  the  name  of  British  seamen.  Cool, 
courageous,  skilful,  never  losing  heart,  they  strug- 
gled on,  in  mortal  danger  every  moment,  and 
from  the  Admiral  down  to  poor  Billy  the  Prince 
every  officer  did  his  whole  duty,  as  did  every  man. 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  123 

It  was  two  days  before  they  were  in  deep  water 
again ;  but  on  the  third  day  the  morning  broke 
in  splendor,  a  golden  sun  shining  down  upon  a 
sapphire  sea.  And  tihe  same  afternoon  the  Brit- 
ish fleet,  with  six  great  Spanish  ships  on  which 
the  Union  Jack  was  hoisted  over  the  Spanish 
colors,  sailed  past  Europa  Point,  and  the  Kock  of 
the  Lion,  from  all  its  hundred  guns,  thundered 
out  a  welcome  worthy  of  such  mighty  guests. 


CHAPTER  IX 

ON  the  21st  of  June,  1779,  had  begun  the  four- 
teenth and  last  siege  of  Gibraltar.  On  the  12th 
of  September  the  gates  had  been  closed,  and 
from  that  on  never,  in  all  the  annals  of  war  by 
land  and  sea,  had  there  been  such  a  struggle  for 
the  possession  of  a  single  spot  of  ground  as  for 
that  mighty  Rock.  General  Sir  George  Eliot, 
with  a  few  more  than  five  thousand  men,  had  re- 
sisted for  five  months  the  assaults  of  an  army 
three  times  as  numerous,  and  a  strong  fleet,  which 
proposed,  by  fighting  and  starving  the  British 
garrison,  to  reduce  it.  Already  there  had  been 
three  months  of  scarcity  before  September,  and 
five  months  of  famine  since;  but  the  spirit  of  the 
garrison  was  still  unbroken,  and  when,  on  that 
brilliant  morning.  "Rodney's  fleet  was  discerned 
rounding  Cabrita  Point,  the  gaunt  crowds  of  sol- 
diers, officers,  ladies,  servants,  Jews,  and  Genoese 
poured  out  upon  the  face  of  the  Rock,  wept  and 
laughed  and  prayed  and  went  wild  with  joy,  as 
sufferers  do  when  relief  is  in  sight.  For  seven 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  125 

days  they  had  alternated  the  agonies  of  despair 
with  the  transports  of  hope.  They  had  heard 
that  Admiral  Rodney,  with  a  convoy,  was  com- 
ing to  their  relief ;  but  a  little  English  brig  which 
had  made  its  way  in  brought  news  of  Admiral 
de  Langara's  squadron,  and  the  besieged  people 
knew  nothing  of  the  numbers  of  the  ships  or 
the  result  of  the  battle  that  must  follow.  As  day 
succeeded  day,  with  no  news  of  the  fleet,  they 
began  to  fear  that  it  had  been  defeated  —  and 
that  meant  submission  or  starvation,  and  they 
had  starved  since  September.  Ever}r  hour  of  the 
night  there  were  half-despairing  creatures  watch- 
ing and  waiting  on  Europa  Point  for  the  longed- 
for  succor ;  and  every  morning  had  brought  them 
nearer  to  despair,  until,  at  last — at  last — the  fleet 
was  coming,  their  white  sails  shining  in  the 
morning  light,  and  bringing  with  them  life  itself 
to  the  brave  men  and  dauntless  women  on  the 
Rock. 

Never,  in  all  his  life,  did  Archy  Baskerville 
forget  that  day  when  he  first  set  foot  on  Gib- 
raltar. The  Royal  George,  her  masts  and  spars 
braced  and  refitted,  and  her  shot-holes  plugged, 
could  still  leg  it  faster  than  most  of  the  ships  in 
the  fleet,  and  led  the  second  division.  Her  decks 
had  been  cleaned  up  and  her  injuries  repaired  as 


126  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

far  as  possible,  and  although  she  showed  marks 
of  her  warfare  with  the  Spaniards  and  the 
storm,  yet  was  she  ready  at  that  moment  to  go 
into  action  if  necessary.  Next  her  came  the 
Phwnix,  larger  than  the  Royal  George,  and  clum- 
sier, but  a  noble  trophy ;  and  beyond  them  were 
other  great  ships  of  the  line,  smart  frigates, 
captured  Spanish  ships,  and  a  fine  convoy  loaded 
with  provisions  for  the  famishing  garrison. 

As  they  neared  Europa  Point  they  heard  the 
shouts  of  joy  from  the  people  who  swarmed  to 
meet  them.  From  the  old  convent  on  the  hill, 
which  was  the  Governor's  residence,  General 
Eliot,  the  commandant,  was  issuing  with  his  staff. 
A  band  was  playing  "God  Save  the  King," 
which  was  taken  up  by  the  ships  in  the  fleet. 
Admiral  Digby  was  on  the  bridge,  waving  his 
hat  at  General  Eliot,  who,  with  his  hat  in  his 
hand,  bent  his  gray,  uncovered  head  as  if  re- 
turning thanks,  while  he  walked  towards  the 
mole,  where  a  shouting  crowd  of  soldiers,  civil- 
ians, women,  and  children  were  gathering. 

Nearly  every  one  of  the  wounded  officers  was 
on  deck,  and  so  was  Langton,  who  had  not  been 
wounded  at  all,  but  who  was  weak  and  ill  be- 
yond any  of  them.  He  had  not  fully  recovered 
from  his  injuries  in  the  shipwreck,  before  the 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  127 

battle  off  Cape  St.  Vincent,  and  after  doing  his 
duty  like  a  hero  he  had  completely  collapsed. 
Nevertheless,  with  Archy's  aid,  he  had  crawled 
up  on  deck,  and  both  of  them  watched,  with 
shining  eyes,  the  stirring  and  inspiring  scene  as 
the  ships  came  to  anchor.  The  Royal  George 
stood  quite  close  in,  and  almost  before  the  an- 
chor kissed  the  ground  the  Admiral's  barge  put 
off  and  joined  the  crowd  of  boats  containing 
officers  that  were  making  for  the  landings.  They 
saw  the  people  crowding  around  the  officers, 
shaking  hands,  and  even  embracing  them,  while 
General  Eliot  stood  silent  and  apparently  over- 
come with  emotion,  as  admirals,  captains,  and  lieu- 
tenants grasped  his  hand  and  wrung  it.  Pretty 
soon  a  boat  with  provisions  put  off  from  the 
Royal  George,  for  the  necessities  of  the  people 
were  so  great  that  they  had  to  be  supplied  before 
the  cargoes  of  the  storeships  could  be  broken. 
Archy,  who  always  had  to  be  in  the  thick  of 
everything,  basely  deserted  Langton  as  soon  as 
the  boats  began  putting  off,  and,  going  up  to 
Captain  Fulke,  asked  permission  to  go  ashore. 
The  young  prisoner's  conduct  on  board  ship  had 
made  him  to  be  highly  popular,  and  Captain 
Fulke  at  once  agreed. 

"  Good-bye !"  cried  Archy  to  Langton.   "  Some- 


128  THE   BOOK   OF   THE    LION 

body  will  take  care  of  you,  I  dare  say,"  and  skip- 
ped over  the  side. 

As  the  boat  drew  alongside  the  Rock  the  scene 
was  thrilling.  Before  them  towered  the  mighty 
Rock,  with  its  grim  batteries  ready  for  defence, 
while  just  across  the  neck  of  land  connecting  it 
with  the  mainland,  no  more  than  a  mile  from 
the  barrier  gate,  the  Spaniards  had  erected  two 
mighty  lines  of  fortifications,  from  the  Punta 
Mala  on  the  bay  of  Gibraltar,  across  to  the  Sierra 
de  Carbonera,  or  Queen  of  Spain's  Chair.  Two 
great  forts  were  at  either  end  of  this  line  of  for- 
tifications— San  Felipe,  on  the  bay  of  Gibraltar, 
and  Santa  Barbara,  on  the  eastern  beach.  San 
Felipe  was  faced  by  a  frowning  fort,  almost  as 
strong  as  the  Spanish  fort  at  the  end  of  the  Old 
Mole,  while  three  strong  batteries  and  the  power- 
ful defences  of  the  Land  Port  defied  the  Spanish 
line  of  attack.  In  the  golden  afternoon  light 
these  grim  and  warlike  features  were  singularly 
clear,  the  Spanish  colors  were  in  plain  view,  while 
the  distant  roll  of  the  Spanish  drums  and  the 
silver  notes  of  the  bugles  were  perfectly  audible. 

On  the  mole  the  people  seemed  beside  them- 
selves with  excitement  —  the  rapture  of  relief, 
the  anxiety  for  news  from  home,  the  story  of 
sufferings  half  told,  the  pain,  the  joy,  the  pale 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION  129 

mothers  with  the  paler  children,  the  officers  and 
soldiers  with  uniforms  hanging  loose  upon  their 
famished  bodies,  the  Jews  and  Genoese  chatter- 
ing and  gesticulating  wildly,  and  a  few  Moors 
and  Arabs  standing  silent  and  stoical  amid  the 
tumult.  One  of  these  men — an  Arab  —  Archy 
noticed  the  instant  he  stepped  ashore,  close  to 
a  group  made  up  of  General  Sir  George  Eliot, 
Admiral  Rodney,  Admiral  Digby,  and  some 
other  officers  of  high  rank.  This  man  was  of 
a  bronze  color,  tall  and  well  formed,  with  the 
full  black  eyes  of  the  Arab  tribesmen,  and  wore 
his  white  burnouse  and  his  snowy  turban  with 
an  imperial  air.  General  Eliot,  a  soldierly  but 
austere-looking  man,  spoke  to  him. 

"  Come  here,  Musa." 

Musa  advanced  with  perfect  dignity,  and  bow- 
ed to  the  officers ;  each  returned  the  salutation 
by  lifting  his  hat. 

"  This  man,  gentlemen,  has  been  our  only  mode 
of  communicating  with  the  outside  world  for  five 
months  past.  Through  him  we  have  communi- 
cated with  our  consuls  on  the  African  side,  and 
they  have  returned  us,  by  him,  the  only  news  we 
have  had  of  anything  outside  this  Eock  in  all 
that  time.  The  Spaniards  have  found  out  that 
Musa  is  clever  enough  to  elude  their  smartest 

9 


130  THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

cruisers,  and  have  repeatedly  offered  him  money 
to  betray  us,  but  he  has  steadily  refused." 

"  This  shall  be  known  in  England,  Musa,"  said 
Sir  George  Rodney. 

Musa  slightly  inclined  his  head,  and,  without 
the  faintest  change  of  countenance,  withdrew, 
and  walked  off  by  himself. 

General  Eliot  then  turned  to  a  small,  slight 
man,  in  naval  uniform,  and  said,  "  I  have  had  as 
much  assistance  from  Captain  Curtis  as  from  any 
officer  in  the  garrison,  and  Mrs.  Curtis  fired  the 
first  shot  of  the  defence  on  the  12th  of  September, 
the  order  for  firing  being, '  Britons,  strike  home !' " 

Archy  glanced  around,  and  saw  by  Captain 
Curtis' s  side  a  pretty,  pale-faced  woman,  holding 
a  little  girl  of  ten  years  by  the  hand,  and  by  her 
blushes  and  the  child's  smiles  he  knew  that  the 
lady  was  Mrs.  Curtis.  But  the  next  moment  the 
child  said  something  that  went  to  his  heart. 

"Mamma,"  she  whispered,  "when  do  the  sail- 
ors mean  to  give  us  something  to  eat  ?  I  am  so 
hungry !" 

This  was  more  than  Archy  could  stand,  and, 
making  for  the  boat,  he  very  unceremoniously 
seized  a  bag  of  potatoes  and  was  walking  off 
with  it,  when  an  officer,  superintending  the  un- 
loading, called  out  to  him,  sternly : 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  131 

"  Hold,  there !  What  are  you  doing  with  that 
bag  of  potatoes  ?" 

"  Taking  it  to  feed  a  half-starved  woman  and 
her  little  girl." 

"  Put  it  down.  The  provisions  must  be  dis- 
tributed according  to  orders." 

"Unluckily,  this  case  can't  wait,"  answered 
Archy,  making  a  dash  towards  the  group  where 
Admiral  Digby  stood. 

"  Sir,"  said  he,  "  I  want  these  potatoes  for  Mrs. 
Curtis  and  her  little  girl,  and — " 

"  By  George!  you  shall  have  them,"  whispered 
the  Admiral.  "  Kun,  sir,  for  your  life.  There  is 
Mrs.  Curtis  going  up  the  path  towards  Europa 
Point,  and  as  soon  as  you  have  delivered  them, 
come  back  to  me  and  I  will  reprimand  you." 

Archy  waited  for  no  further  orders,  and,  laugh- 
ing, started  as  fast  as  his  legs  could  carry  him 
after  Mrs.  Curtis.  In  a  minute  or  two  he  reach- 
ed her,  toiling  painfully  up  the  steep  path,  Dolly, 
white  and  faint,  clinging  to  her  hand. 

"  Madam,"  said  Archy,  taking  off  his  hat,  "  I 
believe  I  have  the  honor  of  addressing  Mrs.  Cur- 
tis. Admiral  Digby  gave  me  permission  to  bring 
this  bag  of  potatoes  to  your  house." 

"I  have  no  house  any  more,"  replied  Mrs. 
Curtis,  with  a  faint  smile.  "  The  officers'  fam- 


132  THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

ilies  have  long  since  abandoned  the  houses  in 
the  town,  on  account  of  the  bombardment.  My 
husband  has  had  a  rude  shelter  put  up  for  us 
under  the  rocks  at  Europa  Point,  and  there  my 
child  and  I  live,  with  a  faithful  old  servant  of  my 
husband's.  I  thank  you  more  than  I  can  express 
for  your  kindness  in  bringing  us  something  to  eat 
— I  knew  you  had  a  kind  heart  as  soon  as  I  saw 
your  bright  face.  Tell  me  who  you  are." 

"I  am  Midshipman  Baskerville,  late  of  the 
continental  ship  Bon  Homme  Richard,  a  prisoner 
on  parole,  and  entirely  at  your  service,  madam — 
and  this  young  lady's,"  added  Archy,  who  dearly 
loved  children,  looking  at  Dolly. 

Dolly  smiled  at  him,  and  when  he  offered  her 
his  hand  to  help  her  up  the  steep  incline  she 
gave  it  him  with  the  sweetest  confidence.  Archy 
had  never  practised  carrying  bags  of  potatoes  on 
his  back,  and  was  considerably  out  of  breath  when 
they  reached  the  shelter  that  stood  for  a  house 
for  Mrs.  Curtis. 

There  was  an  open  space  between  two  huge 
bowlders  which  had  been  roofed  over,  and  in  it 
were  spread  some  rugs,  two  mattresses  for  sleep- 
ing, cushions  and  blankets,  and  in  a  large  chest 
were  a  few  necessaries  for  living,  and  clothing. 
This  was  the  home  of  an  officer's  wife  and  child. 


THE   BOOK   OF   THE   LION  133 

Bat  some  one  was  there  before  them — a  tall, 
well-made,  hard-featured,  elderly  man,  in  the  uni- 
form of  a  sergeant  of  marines,  who  had  promptly 
kindled  a  little  fire,  and  immediately  set  to  work 
briskly  peeling  the  potatoes. 

"  This  is  Judkins,"  said  Mrs.  Curtis  to  Archy. 
"He  was  formerly  my  husband's  orderly,  but 
was  retired  on  account  of  wounds  ;  but  he  has  be- 
come our  orderly,  and  is  cook,  butler,  nurse-maid, 
and  lady's-maid  to  Dolly  and  me.  We  are  in  his 
charge  while  Captain  Curtis  is  on  his  ship,  the 
Enterprise" 

Judkins  had  been  hungry  for  eight  months; 
but  he  did  not  abate  a  jot  or  tittle  of  his  dig- 
nity on  that  account,  and  stopped  peeling  the 
potatoes,  and  stood  bolt-upright  at  "attention" 
while  Archy  courteously  saluted  him. 

While  they  were  still  standing  there,  Archy 
quite  fascinated  with  the  sweetness  of  Mrs.  Cur- 
tis and  Dolly,  Captain  Curtis  arrived.  Mrs.  Cur- 
tis at  once  introduced  Archy,  and  told  of  his  ac- 
tion in  such  a  way  as  to  make  it  .seem  more  than 
it  really  was. 

"  Kindness  to  my  wife  and  child  is  a  very  good 
recommendation  to  me,  Mr.  Baskerville,"  said  Cap- 
tain Curtis,  cordially,  "  and  I  would  like  to  know 
by  what  scheme  you  got  the  potatoes  first." 


134  THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

"Nabbed  them,  sir,"  replied  Archy,  with  a 
grin ;  "  and  I  am  now  going  back  to  be  hauled 
over  the  coals  by  Admiral  Digby,  who  told  me 
to  run  away  with  the  bag,  and  then  come  back 
and  be  reprimanded.  Good-bye !  good-bye !"  and 
he  was  off. 

When  he  again  reached  the  mole  the  scene 
was  even  more  animated.  There  was  a  proces- 
sion of  boats  passing  back  and  forth  from  the 
ships  to  the  mole,  and  provisions  were  being  un- 
loaded with  extraordinary  rapidity  under  the 
eyes  of  the  officers.  All  were  working  hard,  and 
none  harder  than  Prince  William,  who,  with  a 
red  face  and  a  dusty  jacket,  was  doing  his  duty 
among  the  other  midshipmen  just  as  if  his  father 
did  not  sit  upon  the  greatest  throne  on  earth. 
Admiral  Digby,  who  was  everywhere  at  once, 
noticed  Billy's  energy  and  industry,  and  spoke 
some  words  of  praise  to  him,  at  which  the 
young  Prince's  honest,  simple  face  glowed  with 
pleasure. 

Many  of  the  poorer  persons  hung  about,  beg- 
ging for  food  before  it  could  be  taken  to  their 
houses.  Admiral  Digby,  his  hands  behind  his 
back,  was  walking  up  and  down  the  mole,  watch- 
ing with  pity  the  efforts  of  the  starving  people 
to  carry  away  what  was  given  them.  He  was 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  135 

looking  at  an  old  woman  who  had  been  given  a 
basketful,  but  was  tottering  along  under  it,  al- 
most falling  under  her  load,  when  Archy  ap- 
peared before  him. 

"  I  have  come  for  my  reprimand  about  the 
potatoes,  sir,"  he  said,  respectfully. 

"That's  right,  sir,"  chirped  the  Admiral; 
"never  neglect  reporting  yourself  when  a  rep- 
rimand is  expected,  or  you  may  have  worse 
luck.  You  cribbed  a  bag  of  potatoes,  didn't  you  ? 
Very  reprehensible — very  reprehensible,  indeed. 
You  should  be  severely  reprimanded.  Stealing 
potatoes  is  clearly  against  the  articles  of  war. 
Consider  yourself  reprimanded — severely  repri- 
manded, sir ;  and  if  you  have  a  chance  of  steal- 
ing a  few  more  for  that  old  woman  yonder,  don't 
hesitate,  but  do  it,  and  come  and  be  reprimand- 
ed again.  You  might  help  her  and  some  others 
of  these  poor,  weak,  helpless  creatures  to  carry 
away  what  is  given  them — you  have  a  fine  pair 
of  shoulders,  and  legs  like  a  London  chairman — 
so  be  off  with  you — and,  stay — eh — I  say — dine 
in  the  great  cabin  with  me  to-night —  Gone, 
with  a  duck  of  his  head  for  answer  to  an  ad- 
miral's invitation  !  Presumptuous  young  dog ! 
But  a  fine  fellow,  if  ever  I  saw  one." 

Nevertheless,  Archy  was  not  one  to  scorn  an 


136  THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION 

invitation  to  a  better  dinner  than  he  was  likely 
to  get  in  the  usual  course  of  events,  and  at  din- 
ner-time he  presented  himself  in  the  Admiral's 
cabin.  He  thought  himself  especially  fortunate 
in  having  a  chance  to  talk  about  his  scheme  of 
staying  at  Gibraltar,  and  was  delighted  when 
Admiral  Digby  said,  "  I  have  mentioned  to  Gen- 
eral Eliot  your  preference  for  remaining  here,  and 
as  the  place  is  plentifully  supplied,  and  will  be 
kept  supplied  in  the  future,  there  is  no  objection 
made  to  it.  General  Eliot  was  most  considerate, 
and  readily  granted  my  request." 

"  Thank  you,  sir,"  replied  Archy, "  and  to-mor- 
row morning  I  will  call  and  pay  my  respects  to 
General  Eliot,  and  express  my  thanks.  May  I 
ask,  sir,  if  you  have  not  told  the  General  that  I 
am  Lord  Bellingham's  grandson,  that  you  will 
not?  I—" 

"  Too  late,  sir.  I  felt  obliged  to  tell  General 
Eliot  every  particular  concerning  you.  I  fear," 
said  the  Admiral,  looking  sharply  at  Archy, 
"that  you  have  imbibed  some  false  and  dema- 
gogic notions  about  rank.  Surely,  it  is  of  solid 
advantage  to  you  to  be  known  as  the  grandson 
of  a  peer." 

Admiral  Digby,  without  the  slightest  cringing 
towards  the  great,  yet  respected  rank,  as  it  was 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  137 

everywhere  respected  in  the  eighteenth  century  ; 
and  he  could  not  but  hope  that  his  kind  atten- 
tions towards  Archy  might  result  in  bringing 
back  this  strayed  lamb  to  the  fold  of  the  British 
peerage. 

"  In  some  ways,  sir,  it  is  to  my  advantage," 
said  Archy,  "  but  in  others  it  is  not.  I  am  sure 
if  I  had  been  the  grandson  of  John  Smith,  or 
Jones,  or  Brown,  that  I  should  have  been  ex- 
changed long  ago,  and  I  cannot  help  thinking  that 
mv  grandfather  is  using  his  influence  against  me 
at  the  Admiralty.  Commodore  Jones  warned 
me  to  keep  quiet  about  Lord  Bellingham." 

"  Oh — Commodore  Jones !  Kecollect,  you  en- 
gaged to  give  me  some  account  of  him.  He 
is  a  man  of  remarkable  character  and  achieve- 
ments." 

Archy  plunged  into  a  history  which  was  one 
long  eulogy  of  Paul  Jones.  Admiral  Digby  smiled 
at  his  enthusiasm ;  but  he  was  too  good  a  judge  of 
human  nature  to  disesteem,  or  even  undervalue, 
enthusiasm.  Archy  gave  him  every  particular 
concerning  the  fight  between  the  Eon  Homtne 
Richard  and  the  Serapis,  and  their  perils  at  the 
Texel. 

"  Where  I  was  bagged,  sir,"  he  said,  regretful- 
ly, "  by  my  own  carelessness  and  rashness,  after 


138  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

having  been  repeatedly  warned  by  Commodore 
Jones;  and  here  I  have  been  a  prisoner  of  war 
for  more  than  three  months  in  consequence !" 

"  Very  sad — very  sad !"  condoled  the  Admiral, 
all  the  time  thinking  that  it  might  turn  out  the 
luckiest  thing  in  the  world  for  Archy.  "  And, 
may  I  ask,  Mr.  Baskerville,  to  return  to  Lord  Bell- 
ingham,  how  you  and  he — coincided  ?" 

Archy  rubbed  his  ruddy  cheek  thoughtfully 
before  answering : 

"  Better,  sir,  1  believe,  than  most  people  co- 
incide with  my  grandfather.  He  seems  to  con- 
sider himself  a  much  injured  person,  although 
I  never  could  see  where  his  injuries  lay.  As  I 
do  not  want  the  title,  and  cannot  have  the  es- 
tates, I  believe  my  cousin,  Mr.  Langton,  will  be 
his  heir.  My  grandfather  was  terribly  cut  up 
when  he  heard  the  false  report  of  Langton's 
death." 

"  And  is  it  possible,  Mr.  Baskerville,  that  you 
can  regard  such  splendid  prospects  as  might  be 
yours  with  indifference  ?" 

"I  do  not  know,  sir,  whether  that  word  de- 
scribes my  feelings.  I  regard  those  splendid  pros- 
pects as  impossible  for  me.  My  grandfather,  no 
doubt,  desires  me  to  give  up  my  country,  but 
I  cannot ;  nor  will  I  give  up  my  profession.  It 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  139 

is  the  height  of  my  ambition  to  have  a  com- 
mand in  the  American  Navy." 

"  You  speak  as  if  you  were  quite  sure  that  the 
revolted  colonies  will  be  successful.  Now,  while 
the  present  war  is  undoubtedly  very  unpopular 
in  Great  Britain  and  in  Parliament — the  whole 
force  of  such  gigantic  men  as  Mr.  Burke  and 
Mr.  Fox  is  thrown  against  it — yet  the  fight  will 
be  continued,  and,  for  my  part,  I  think  the  issue 
of  the  struggle  more  than  doubtful  for  the  col- 
onies." 

"  Then,  sir,  every  American  must,  as  a  point 
of  honor,  maintain  his  nationality  when  his  coun- 
try's cause  seems  most  in  peril.  "We  cannot  ad- 
mit that  we  are  whipped  before  our  adversaries 
think  so." 

"  True  enough,  Mr.  Baskerville.  I  see  in  you 
the  spirit  of  determination  common  among  your 
countrymen,  which,  to  my  mind,  is  the  one  thing 
that  makes  it  a  question  whether  we  can  reduce 
the  colonies  or  not.  Oh,  that  we  should  be  com- 
pelled to  fight  such  men !  But  we  must  do  our 
duty.  I  cannot  approve  of  Admiral  Keppel's 
course  in  declining  the  command  of  the  fleet 
for  North  America  because  he  did  not  believe 
in  coercing  the  colonies.  I  desire  to  have  them 
back,  and,  by  George !"  cried  the  Admiral,  bring- 


140  THE   BOOK   OF   THE    LION 

ing  his  fist  down  with  a  thump  that  made  the 
glasses  ring  again,  "  I  am  so  deuced  anxious  to 
have  them  back  that,  if  they  won't  come  for 
the  asking,  I  would  hammer  them  with  men  and 
ships  until  they  were  driven  back,  begad !" 


CHAPTER  X 

WHEN  Archy  went  belour,  after  dining  in  the 
Admiral's  cabin,  he  was  distressed  to  find  that 
Langton  had  grown  worse  instead  of  better  dur- 
ing the  day,  and  was  in  a  high  fever.  As  the 
night  wore  on  it  increased  to  delirium.  His 
injuries  in  the  shipwreck  began  to  trouble  him 
again,  especially  his  three  broken  ribs,  and  the 
mere  motion  of  the  ship  at  anchor  gave  him 
poignant  pain.  Towards  morning  Dr.  MacBean, 
who  had  watched  him,  with  Archy,  all  night, 
said: 

"Mr.  Langton  must  be  taken  ashore  imme- 
diately, and  there  will  be  no  more  cruising  for 
him  for  a  good  long  time." 

Archy  heard  this  with  mixed  pleasure  and 
regret.  He  was  truly  distressed  at  Langton's 
sufferings.  But  the  idea  that  he  would  have 
his  friend's  company  at  Gibraltar,  for  what  he 
thought  would  be  a  short  and  rather  interesting 
period,  was  undeniably  pleasing  to  him.  They 
got  Langton  ashore  early  that  morning  and  es- 


142  THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

tablished  him  in  the  old  stone  building  which 
served  for  a  hospital,  and  there  Archy  nursed 
him  faithfully,  but  very  awkwardly,  for  many 
days.  Langton  was  desperately  ill;  and,  al- 
though it  was  known  that  he  would  probably 
recover,  it  was  out  of  the  question  that  he  should 
leave  with  the  fleet,  which  was  to  sail  the  first 
fair  wind  after  the  10th  of  February. 

Archy's  sole  recreation  in  those  dreary  days 
of  watching  Langton's  sufferings,  when  the  is- 
sue might  be  life  or  death,  was  a  solitary  evening 
walk  up  to  Europa  Point  and  back.  He  did 
not  forget  his  new  friends,  the  Curtises,  and  their 
kindness  and  sympathy  were  grateful  to  him. 
One  of  the  first  things  Captain  Curtis  said  to 
him  was : 

"  The  Spanish  lines  are  advancing  so  rapid- 
ly that  I  make  no  doubt  they  will  soon  get  the 
range  of  the  hospital,  and  if  your  friend  has  to 
be  moved  you  could  not  do  better  than  come  up 
here.  It  is  safe,  and  it  is  healthier,  I  think,  than 
the  spots  lower  down." 

Archy  thanked  him  warmly,  and  immediately 
went  to  work  to  have  a  hut  set  up,  like  Mrs. 
Curtis's,  and  very  close  to  it.  He  got  some 
blankets  and  mattresses  from  the  ship,  and  in 
a  day  or  two  he  had  a  place  to  take  Langton 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  143 

whenever  the  hospital  shared  the  fate  of  most 
of  the  buildings  in  the  lower  town,  and  began 
to  fall  about  their  ears. 

On  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  February,  the 
wind  being  fair,  Admiral  Rodney's  fleet  picked 
up  their  anchors,  and,  amid  a  roar  of  cheers  and 
the  thunder  of  guns,  the  ships  took  their  way 
towards  the  open  sea.  The  garrison,  refresh- 
ed and  encouraged,  and  with  supplies  for  many 
months,  yet  with  sorrow,  saw  them  go ;  and  as 
Archy,  standing  on  the  mole,  caught  sight  of 
the  Royal  George  rounding  Cabrita  Point  in  her 
usual  grand  style  and  leading  the  fleet,  as  she 
always  did,  his  heart  gave  a  great  thump  of  re- 
gret— vain  as  most  regrets  are.  He  had  been  a 
prisoner  on  her — he  had  not  been  a  free  man  for 
many  long  months  —  but  he  had  been  kindly 
treated,  he  had  made  friends,  and  it  seemed  more 
natural  to  him,  sailor  that  he  was,  to  be  afloat 
than  ashore.  But  he  had  readily  adopted  the 
sanguine  view  of  the  officers  of  the  fleet,  and 
most  of  those  of  the  garrison,  that  the  siege  was 
nearing  an  end ;  nor  was  this  pleasing  delusion 
shattered  until  sunset  of  the  day  that  had  seen 
the  British  fleet  sail  away. 

Just  as  the  sun  was  sinking  he  left  Langton 
in  charge  of  a  nurse  and  climbed  to  the  top  of 


144  THE    EOCK    OF   THE    LION 

Jacob' s-ladder.  When  he  found  himself  on  the 
highest  point  of  the  Rock,  he  thought  he  had 
never  seen  a  lovelier  sight,  except  on  that  even- 
ing, four  months  before,  when  he  had  caught  the 
first  glimpse  of  Gibraltar  from  the  deck  of  the 
Seahorse.  Deeply  blue  and  deliciously  calm  lay 
the  Mediterranean,  spread  before  him  in  the  soft 
glow  of  evening.  The  little  British  squadron 
which  was  stationed  at  Gibraltar  lay  motion- 
less at  anchor,  the  work  of  the  day  done.  From 
the  batteries  below  him  he  could  hear  the  faint 
commotion  of  relieving  the  guard,  and  the  mel- 
low notes  of  a  single  bugle  floated  up.  Then 
the  sunset  gun  boomed  over  the  waters,  and 
the  salute  was  sounded  on  the  ships;  but  the 
exquisite  silence,  the  hour,  the  scene,  the  dis- 
tance, made  it  all  seem  like  the  music  of  a 
dream. 

Archy  was  of  a  nature  susceptible  to  these 
charms,  and  from  impetuous  actions  and  uproar- 
ious spirits  he  often  fell  into  moments  of  soft 
and  not  unpleasing  melancholy.  He  was  think- 
ing of  the  history  of  the  Rock — the  valor  that 
had  won  it,  the  patriotic  anguish  of  the  Span- 
iards that  another  nation  should  possess  it,  the 
gallant  lives  laid  down  on  either  side  in  the 
effort  to  take  it  or  to  keep  it — when  he  heard  a 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE    LION  145 

step  behind  him,  and  Captain  Curtis  was  stand- 
ing near  him. 

"  Good-evening,  Mr.  Baskerville.  I  see  we  have 
the  same  taste  in  selecting  this  spot  for  an  even- 
ing walk.  Usually,  I  find  it  quite  deserted  at 
this  time  of  day." 

"  I  find  my  only  chance  of  air  and  exercise  is 
at  this  time,  when  I  can  leave  my  friend  and 
cousin,  Mr.  Langton,  for  an  hour  or  two.  He  is 
better  now  than  he  has  been,  and  I  hope  in  a 
week  or  two  I  may  be  able  to  leave  him  and 
get  through  the  Spanish  lines,  on  my  way  to 
France." 

"Do  you  think  the  Spaniards  will  let  you 
through  ?" 

"  Of  course,"  cried  Archy,  amazed  and  discon- 
certed at  Captain  Curtis's  tone. 

"  I  hope  so,  for  your  sake,  but  I  question  it. 
You  can  undoubtedly  get  to  the  headquarters  of 
the  Spanish  commander,  Don  Martin  de  Sol- 
tomayer,  at  any  time  you  like,  under  a  flag  of 
truce ;  but  I  have  very  little  expectation  that 
they  will  let  you  through  their  lines — certainly 
not  now,  when  the  fortress  has  just  been  revic- 
tualled,  and  you  would  probably  represent  to 
the  outside  world  that  we  are  in  no  danger  of 
starvation  for  a  long  time  to  come.  It  is  the 
10 


146  THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION 

Spanish  policy  to  make  their  people  think  that 
we  are  on  the  verge  of  surrender.  Besides, 
they  will  at  once  suspect  you  to  be  a  spy,  and 
it  takes  a  long  time  to  remove  suspicion  from  the 
Spanish  mind.  And  what  object  have  they  in 
letting  any  one  out  of  here  ?  Not  the  smallest. 
So,  Mr.  Baskerville,  I  think  that  your  anticipa- 
tion of  getting  away,  like  that  of  some  of  our 
military  and  naval  friends  here  and  abroad,  who 
believe  the  siege  will  shortly  be  raised,  is  a  mis- 
take. You  are  in  for  a  good  long  term — that 
you  may  depend  upon." 

Archy  was  staggered  by  this,  and  walked  along 
in  silence  by  Captain  Curtis's  side,  wondering  at 
his  rash  presumption  that  he  could  get  out  of 
Gibraltar  as  easily  as  he  had  got  in.  Suddenly 
he  burst  out : 

"What  folly  was  mine!  I  should  have  re- 
mained with  the  fleet !" 

Archy's  heart  sank  lower  and  lower  as  Cap- 
tain Curtis  continued : 

"I  know  the  temper  of  the  Spanish  people, 
and  they  mean  to  take  Gibraltar  if  it  is  in  the 
power  of  mortal  man.  They  will  soon  have  the 
assistance  of  the  French ;  and  a  French  engineer 
is  a  very  dangerous  person  to  his  enemies,  I  can 
tell  you.  The  garrison  is  relieved  at  present— 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  147 

but  I  look  for  an  attack  by  land  and  sea  that 
will  test  our  mettle.  Luckily,  we  have  a  Gov- 
ernor who  does  not  know  the  meaning  of  the 
word  surrender.  He  set  the  example  to  the  gar- 
rison of  having  his  own  horse  killed  and  distrib- 
uted for  food,  and  has  lived,  for  some  time  past, 
on  a  few  ounces  of  rice  a  day,  and  the  little  fish 
we  catch,  that  are  no  larger  than  sprats." 

Archy  was  silent  with  disappointment  and 
consternation  after  this.  At  last  he  said,  deter- 
minedly : 

"  At  all  events,  I  shall  do  my  best  to  get  Don 
Martin  de  What's-his-name  to  let  me  out." 

"  Come,"  said  Captain  Curtis,  feeling  sorry  for 
him, "  let  us  go  up  to  my  hut  and  see  my  wife 
and  little  girl.  You  are  a  prime  favorite  with 
them  both  already." 

As  they  neared  the  hut  they  heard  the  sound 
of  singing — a  man's  barytone,  full  and  rich,  and 
a  child's  treble,  shrill  but  sweet. 

"  That  is  my  little  girl,"  said  Captain  Curtis, 
with  a  smile,  "  and  my  man  Judkins.  He  carried 
Dolly  in  his  arms  when  she  was  a  baby,  and,  I 
believe,  loves  her  better  than  anything  on  earth. 
Her  first  playthings  were  his  cap  and  belts,  and 
he  is  still  her  favorite  playfellow.  He  has  a 
fine  voice,  as  you  can  tell,  and  has  taught  Dolly 


148  THE    BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

every  song  in  the  British  army,  but  none  of  the 
navy  songs ;  for  Judkins  was  in  the  army  before 
he  was  a  marine." 

"I  understand,"  replied  Archy,  laughing. 
"  There  is  no  love  lost  between  sailors  and  ma- 
rines." 

Presently  they  could  distinguish  the  two  com- 
panions— the  old  marine  and  the  little  girl — sit- 
ting together  on  a  rock,  Dolly  wrapped  up  in  a 
huge  cloak  of  Judkins's,  and  both  of  them  sing- 
ing, at  the  top  of  their  voices,  the  fine  old  song 
'"  The  British  Grenadiers." 

'  Whene'er  we  are  commanded  to  storm  the  palisades, 
Our  leaders  march  with  fuses  and  we  with  hand-gren- 
ades ; 

We  throw  them  from  the  glacis  about  the  enemy's  ears. 
Sing  tow,  row,  row,  row,  row,  row,  row,  for  the  British 
Grenadiers." 

Just  then  the  singers  became  aware  of  their 
audience.  Judkins  stopped  short  in  the  midst  of 
a  "tow,  row,  row,"  and  jumped  as  if  he  were 
shot,  while  Dolly  ran  and  swung  around  her  fa- 
ther's legs,  and  then  turned  her  attention  to 
Archy. 

"  I  haven't  been  hungry  since  you  came,"  she 
said,  "  and  Judkins  and  I  can  sing  a  great  deal 


THE   BOOK   OF   THE   LION  149 

louder  and  better  when  we  aren't  hungry — can't 
we,  Judkins  ?" 

"  Yes,  miss,"  replied  Judkins,  standing  rigidly 
at "  attention,"  and  deeply  embarrassed. 

Archy  begged  them  to  continue,  and  Dolly 
quite  readily,  and  Judkins  blushing  very  much, 
evidently  enduring  agonies  of  sheepishness,  yet 
obeyed  orders,  and  gave  "The  Lincolnshire 
Poacher,"  "  The  Dashing  White  Sergeant,"  and 
other  famous  songs  of  the  British  army. 

Nothing  could  exceed  the  kindness  and  sweet- 
ness of  Mrs.  Curtis  towards  Archy.  In  some  way 
she  at  once  divined  that  he  was  motherless,  and 
his  tenderness  to  Dolly  showed  that  he  had  a 
good  heart.  As  for  Archy  himself,  in  spite  of  his 
fondness  for  "seeing  life"  and  his  adventurous 
disposition,  he  felt  all  the  sweetness  and  charm 
of  domestic  life,  and  was  quite  happy  to  be  even 
a  chance  partaker  in  the  home  circle  that  was 
yet  to  be  found  in  the  rude  shelter  to  which  the 
Spanish  cannonade  had  driven  his  new-found 
friends.  He  remained  until  it  was  time  for 
Captain  Curtis  to  return  to  his  ship,  and  after  a 
cordial  invitation  from  Mrs.  Curtis  to  visit  them 
often,  and  an  affectionate  good-night  from  Dolly, 
Archy  returned  to  his  quarters  at  the  hospital. 

He  lay  awake  that  night,  troubled  by  what 


150  THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION 

Captain  Curtis  had  told  him ;  but  in  the  morn- 
ing his  irrepressible  spirits  reasserted  themselves, 
and  he  began  to  think  that,  after  all,  he  might 
get  away. 

That  day  Langton  was  much  better  in  health, 
but  low  in  his  mind  over  the  departure  of  the 
fleet,  and  Archy  very  indiscreetly  let  out  Cap- 
tain Curtis's  opinion  as  to  the  length  of  the 
siege. 

"  Then  we  shall  lose  Gibraltar,  I  am  afraid," 
said  Langton,  sadly. 

"  What  are  you  talking  about  3"  cried  Archy. 
"  It  takes  a  lot  of  beating  to  whip  an  Englishman 
— we  know  it  to  our  sorrow.  But,  nevertheless, 
we  will  soon  chase  all  of  your  beggarly  redcoats 
out  of  America;  then  you  can  turn  your  whole 
attention  to  the  Don  Spaniards ;  and  then — Lord 
help  'em !  And  you  will  be  going  back  to  Eng- 
land and  be  adopted  by  Lord  Bellingham  in 
lieu  of  me,  while  I  shall  be  captain  of  a  smart 
little  frigate  under  the  American  colors,  and  I'll 
call  and  see  you  at  Bellingham  Castle.  Oh,  great 
guns,  what  fun  I'll  have !  You  ought  to  know 
your  venerable  grandfather,  my  boy ;  you'll  often 
wish,  when  you  are  rolling  in  splendor  at  Bell- 
ingham, that  you  were  at  Gibraltar  living  on  rice 
and  salt  fish.  Uncle  Baskerville  is  a  trump — as 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  151 

fine  an  old  chap  as  I  know,  if  he  would  but  leave 
off  his  sermons  to  me  about  returning  to  my 
allegiance  to  my  king  and  country,  and  taking 
my  place  as  the  prospective  heir  and  head  of  the 
Baskerville  family.  But  our  grandfather — oh,  ye 
gods !" 

Langton  laughed  feebly  at  this,  and  Archy, 
hauling  a  letter  out  of  his  pocket,  said,  "  Here 
is  a  copy  of  the  letter  I  sent  by  the  fleet,  and  I 
shall  send  this  copy  by  the  first  expedition  to 
the  African  coast,  in  hopes  that  in  one  way  or 
the  other  it  may  reach  Bellingham  Castle.  This 
is  to  my  grandfather."  And  Archy  read  with  a 
great  flourish : 

' ' '  HONORED  SIR, — I  take  the  first  opportunity  of  communi- 
cating with  you  and  my  uncle,  after  my  singular  disappear- 
ance from  York,  at  the  Assizes.  The  story  of  my  advent- 
ures is  briefly  this:  A  press  was  organized  at  York,  and  I, 
happening  to  be  in  the  tavern  when  it  took  place,  got  my 
head  cracked,  and  knew  no  more  until  I  found  myself 
aboard  of  His  Majesty's  ship  of  the  line  Royal  George,  in 
Biscay  Bay,  bound  for  Gibraltar,  in  Rodney's  fleet,  with  a 
convoy  for  the  relief  of  the  garrison.  And  here  I  am,  sir, 
on  Gibraltar  Rock,  preferring  to  take  my  chances  of  getting 
to  France  from  here  than  with  the  fleet,  which  goes  to  the 
Leeward  Islands.  This  place  has  been  hotly  besieged,  and 
some  think  we  have  not  seen  the  worst  of  it  yet ;  but  my  ex- 
pectation is  that  Great  Britain  will  shortly  abandon  her  hope- 
less attempt  to  coerce  the  independent  American  colonies — ' 


152  THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION 

"  The  footstool  will  fly,  and  everything  else 
handy,  when  the  old  gentleman  reads  this  para- 
graph," interrupted  Archy  in  his  reading. 

— ' ' '  and  then  the  fortress  will  be  relieved.  But  no  one  dreams 
of  surrender,  and  all  reports  of  that  kind  reaching  England 
must  be  discredited. 

"  'You  perhaps  know  by  this  time,  from  the  Gazette,  that 
your  grandson,  Trevor  Langton,  Esq.,  was  saved,  and  not  lost, 
at  the  wreck1  of  the  Seahorse,  and  behaved  with  the  greatest 
gallantry  in  the  action  of  the  16th  of  January  with  Admiral 
Juan  de  Langara's  fleet.  An  old  wound,  reopened,  has  given 
him  great  pain,  and  he  was  in  grave  danger  for  a  while,  but  is 
now  convalescing.  Being  unable  to  sail  with  the  fleet,  he  is 
now  here  in  hospital,  and  there  is  no  immediate  prospect  of 
his  getting  away.  We  are  better  friends  than  ever  since 
finding  out  our  relationship,  and  he  is  so  fine  a  young  gentle- 
man, and  so  good  an  officer,  that  I  think  you  could  not  do 
better  than  to  make  him  your  heir  in  lieu  of  my  unworthy 
self.' 

"My  boy,  I  am  afraid  I  have  murdered  all 
your  chances  by  that  sentence,  for  our  respect- 
ed grandfather  goes  by  the  rule  of  contrary. 

"  'Please  present  my  uncle  with  my  most  respectful  com- 
pliments, and  assure  him  of  my  warmest  affection.  I  shall 
endeavor  to  remember  and  profit  by  all  his  kind  counsels 
except  one  — to  abandon  my  country;  but  I  was  born  an 
American  and  I  mean  to  die  one.' " 

"  You  could  not  help  putting  that  in,  could 
you?"  languidly  remarked  Langton.  "  You  are 


THE   BOOK   OF   THE   LION  153 

a  great  fellow  for  proclaiming  what  everybody 
knows,  and  thereby  showing  yourself  very,  very 
young." 

"  And  you  are  so  prudent  and  oyster-like  that 
you  appear  very,  very  old,"  retorted  Archy,  good- 
naturedly,  "  but  not  so  very,  very  wise.  How- 
ever, see  how  respectfully  I  end  my  letter : 

"  '  With  sincere  good  wishes  for  your  lordship's  health  and 
happiness,  and  high  appreciation  of  your  lordship's  extreme 
kindness  to  me,  I  beg  leave  to  subscribe  myself  your  lord- 
ship's affectionate  grandson  and  obedient  servant, 

" '  AKCHIBALD  BASKERVILLE, 

"  '  Midshipman  in  the  Continental  Navy. ' " 

The  cannonade  from  the  Spanish  lines  had  been 
booming  all  the  time  Archy  and  Langton  were 
talking,  but  it  sounded  strangely  near  just  then ; 
and  when  Archy  went  to  the  window  and  look- 
ed towards  the  isthmus  he  saw  that  a  new  bat- 
tery had  been  unmasked  in  the  advanced  lines  of 
the  Spaniards.  Suddenly  a  deafening  crash  re- 
sounded behind  him.  A  round  shot  had  burst 
through  the  wall,  and,  amid  the  debris,  lay  the 
cot  on  which  Langton  was  lying.  He  was  un- 
hurt, but  Archy  said : 

"  Come,  it  is  too  hot  here  for  us.  I  must  get 
help  and  carry  you  up  to  the  hut  in  the  rocks." 
And  in  an  hour  Langton  lay  under  the  rude  but 


154  THE   ROCK   OF  THE    LION 

safe  shelter  provided  for  him  under  the  rocks  at 
Europa  Point. 

For  the  first  week  or  two  Archy  was  taken 
up  with  caring  for  Langton,  and  trying  to  make 
their  cranny  in  the  rocks  comfortable.  In  this 
effort  he  met  with  the  greatest  kindness  from 
Mrs.  Curtis ;  and  the  deftness  with  which,  out  of 
their  few  belongings,  she  made  them  really  a  tol- 
erably comfortable  place  to  live,  caused  Archy 
to  exclaim  with  enthusiasm : 

"  I  have  always  heard,  ma'am,  that  one  wom- 
an could  do  as  much  as  twelve  men  and  a  boy ; 
and  now  I  know  it !" 

Judkins's  help  was  by  no  means  to  be  despised, 
however,  and  with  the  resources  of  an  old  cam- 
paigner he  showed  them  marvels.  Archy  was 
eager  to  begin  the  effort  for  his  exchange  im- 
mediately, but  the  garrison  knew  that  Don  Mar- 
tin, the  Spanish  Commander -in -Chief,  after  the 
departure  of  the  British  fleet,  had  gone  away  for 
a  few  weeks  to  recover  his  health,  and  both  Cap- 
tain Curtis  and  General  Eliot,  to  whom  Captain 
Curtis  introduced  Archy,  advised  him  to  wait 
until  Don  Martin's  return,  as  the  second  in  com- 
mand would  probably  do  nothing  in  his  ab- 
sence. Archy  acquiesced  in  this,  and  settled  him- 
self to  spend  the  intervening  time  as  patiently 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  155 

as  he  could.  He  was  courteously,  and  even  kind- 
ly, treated  by  everybody,  and  with  his  gay  and 
jovial  nature  he  soon  became  hail-fellow-well- 
met  with  the  whole  garrison  and  population, 
with  one  exception.  This  was  the  officers  of  the 
Hanoverian  regiment,  for  King  George  had  let 
some  of  his  German  troops  for  hire  to  fight  the 
Spanish,  as  he  had  hired  Hessians  to  fight  the 
Americans.  Archy  found  that  the  English  officers 
and  soldiers  had  but  little  more  liking  for  the 
Hanoverians  than  he  had,  although  it  could  not 
be  denied  that  the  Germans  did  their  duty,  and 
suffered  and  fought  along  with  the  rest.  Archy 
took  a  malicious  delight  in  telling  how,  in  Amer- 
ica, the  Hessians  were  chiefly  good  for  eating  up 
the  provender,  and  when  there  was  fighting  for 
dinner  these  prudent  Teutons  usually  retired,  and 
left  the  British  to  settle  with  the  Americans. 
Archy,  boy-like,  although  he  had  the  stature  of 
a  man,  avoided  the  Hanoverian  officers  osten- 
tatiously, mimicked  their  droll  accent  whenever 
he  had  a  chance,  and  took  a  vast  amount  of 
trouble  to  let  them  know  how  lightly  he  esteem- 
ed them — of  which  the  stolid  Germans  were 
generally  unconscious,  and  to  which  they  were 
always  indifferent. 

The  bombardment  kept  up  steadily,  but  the 


156  THE    BOOK   OF   THE    LION 

loss  of  life  was  singularly  small.  The  people 
grew  accustomed  to  it  in  the  day,  but  those  who 
had  fled  southward  in  the  beginning,  to  tempo- 
rary shelter,  were  still  alarmed  by  it  during  the 
night,  and  so  remained  in  their  miserable  huts. 
As  the  case  always  is,  after  the  first  horror  peo- 
ple began  to  see  the  amusing  side  of  even  very 
dreadful  events,  and  it  became  a  relief  to  laugh 
at  the  grotesque  things  that  happened. 

One  evening,  in  the  spring,  about  twilight, 
Archy  Baskerville  and  Captain  Curtis  were  walk- 
ing soberly  through  one  of  the  narrow  streets  of 
the  upper  town,  passing  the  barracks  of  Colonel 
SchlippersgilPs  Hanoverian  regiment.  The  win- 
dows of  a  small  room,  used  as  a  mess-hall,  were 
open,  and  around  the  table  in  the  middle  of  the 
floor  they  could  see  a  dozen  burly  German  offi- 
cers wreathed  in  smoke  from  their  long  pipes, 
and  with  great  mugs  of  beer  before  them  —  for 
a  supply  of  beer  had  been  laid  in  especially  for 
them. 

"  Look  at  them,"  said  Archy,  in  a  tone  of  deep 
disgust,  "smoking  and  guzzling  —  guzzling  and 
smoking— nothing  but  that." 

"Nonsense,"  replied  Captain  Curtis,  briskly. 
"Those  poor  Hanoverians  can  do  nothing  to 
please  you.  Their  smoking  is  harmless,  and 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION  157 

their  guzzling  is  of  beer,  which  is  much  better 
for  them  than  the  rum  and  grog  we  give  our 
men." 

Just  then  they  noticed,  in  the  soft  dusk  of 
evening,  a  two-legged  black  shadow  moving 
around  the  parapet  of  the  long,  low  building  in 
which  was  the  mess-hall. 

"  It  is  a  peacock,"  said  Archy,  after  watching 
this  mysterious  creature  for  a  while,  "  and  a  big 
one,  too.  Where  do  you  suppose  such  a  creature 
could  come  from?" 

"  It  is  some  one's  pet  peacock,  no  doubt,"  was 
Captain  Curtis's  reply,  in  a  low  voice  —  "  some 
one  who  has  managed  to  conceal  it  all  this 
time."  For  animal  pets  had  disappeared  long 
before  this,  and  had,  generally  speaking,  been 
made  into  broth. 

The  peacock  tiptoed  gingerly  along  the  ledge, 
and  then,  going  towards  the  centre  of  the  roof, 
peered  curiously  down  a  small  skylight  that  had 
been  left  open  in  the  mess-room  for  the  benefit 
of  the  air. 

"  The  peacock  knows  where  to  go  for  com- 
pany," whispered  Archy.  "I  always  thought 
those  German  officers,  with  their  everlasting 
strut,  first  cousin  to  the  peacock  family." 

The  peacock,  as  if  satisfied  with  his  view,  came 


158  THE   KOCK    OF   THE    LION 

back  to  the  parapet,  and  then  a  voice  was  heard 
in  an  eager  whisper  from  the  street,  saying,  in 
Italian : 

"  Pippo !  my  Pippo !  Come  back  to  me.  Come 
back  to  me,  Pippo.  Ungrateful  bird !  For  you  I 
have  nearly  starved  myself,  and  have  remained 
in  my  cellar  when  I  might  have  been  safe  else- 
where. Dear  Pippo,  come  back !" 

A  dark  spot  against  the  wall,  under  the  win- 
dow, resolved  itself  into  the  figure  of  an  old  Gen- 
oese woman,  well  known  as  Mother  Nina,  whose 
pet  the  peacock  had  been  for  many  years,  and 
who  had  miraculously  kept  the  bird  out  of  sight 
for  months. 

Pippo  seemed  totally  disinclined  to  accept  this 
cordial  invitation  to  return  to  his  foster-mother, 
and  showed  his  indifference  by  again  tipping  cau- 
tiously towards  the  open  skylight.  Archy,  how- 
ever, felt  sorry  for  the  poor  old  woman  crouch- 
ing under  the  window,  and,  seeing  a  trellis-work 
covered  with  vines  by  the  side  of  the  building,  he 
quickly  swung  himself  up  on  the  roof,  and  moved 
softly  towards  the  peacock,  which  seemed  absorb- 
ed in  contemplation  of  Colonel  Schlippersgill 
and  his  companions  under  the  skylight.  Some 
words  now  floated  up  from  the  deep,  guttural 
German  throats.  Archy  did  not  understand  Ger- 


THE   HOCK   OF   THE    LION  159 

man,  but  presently  Colonel  Schlippersgill  himself 
spoke  in  English : 

"  Eef  it  were  not  for  dose  damned  golonies  in 
Ameriga,  der  blace  would  haf  been  reliefed  long 
ago.  I  would  be  glad  der  see  der  defel  himself 
eef  he  would  shtop  der  bang,  bang — " 

That  allusion  to  "damned  golonies"  was  too 
much  for  Archy's  temper.  He  seized  the  huge 
old  peacock  by  the  legs,  and,  giving  it  a  vicious 
swing,  which  brought  a  frantic  and  ear-piercing 
squawk  from  the  creature  and  an  agonized  shriek 
from  the  old  woman,  dashed  the  bird  down  the 
skylight  into  the  laps  of  the  German  officers; 
and,  at  the  same  moment,  the  last  shell  of  the 
day's  bombardment  struck  a  corner  of  the  build- 
ing with  a  loud  explosion,  hurling  the  old  wom- 
an through  the  open  window,  where  her  yells, 
the  peacock's  screams,  and  the  violence  of  the 
explosion  made  Bedlam.  The  uproar  raised  the 
whole  street,  and  a  crowd  collected  as  if  by  mag- 
ic. The  German  officers,  wildly  excited,  rushed 
about  bawling  in  German  and  English,  while 
the  old  woman  and  the  peacock  maintained 
a  duet  of  screams  that  could  be  heard  half  a 
mile. 

Meanwhile  Archy,  as  innocent  as  a  lamb,  was 
at  Captain  Curtis's  side,  who,  leaning  up  against 


160  THE    ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

the  wall,  added  his  robust  haw-haws  to  the  gen- 
eral commotion. 

In  the  midst  of  the  racket  and  confusion,  Col- 
onel Schlippersgill  rushed  to  the  door,  and,  rais- 
ing his  hand  for  silence,  bellowed  out : 
"  Mine  friends,  'twas  der  peacock." 
At  this  a  clear,  boyish  voice  on  the  edge  of 
the  crowd  rang  out : 

"  The  peacock  was  looking  for  company."  The 
people  roared  with  laughter,  except  the  German 
officers,  while  Colonel  Schlippersgill  shouted,  an- 
grily: 

"  Arrest  dot  man !" 
To  this  the  voice  replied : 
"  You'd  better  arrest  the  peacock." 
Another  roar  saluted  this,  but  the  old  Genoese 
woman,  supposing  the  peacock  was  about  to  be 
taken  from  her,  began  to  screech : 

"  Arrest  my  Pippo !  Pippo  mio — "  and  then 
poured  out,  at  the  top  of  her  lungs,  in  English 
and  Italian,  the  story  of  Pippo,  varied  with  call- 
ing down  maledictions  on  the  head  of  Colonel 
Schlippersgill,  whom,  in  some  way,  she  held  ac- 
countable for  Pippo's  misfortunes.  She  was  in- 
terrupted by  a  file  of  soldiers  marching  down 
the  narrow  street  in  double  time,  with  orders 
to  investigate  the  disturbance.  It  did  not  take 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION  161 

them  half  a  minute  to  arrest  the  old  woman 
and  catch  the  peacock.  Colonel  Schlippersgill 
and  his  officers,  swelling  with  rage,  accompanied 
them  voluntarily  to  the  Provost  Marshal's  office, 
Captain  Curtis  and  Archy  followed,  and  the  pro- 
cession took  its  way  towards  headquarters.  Gen- 
eral Eliot  happened  to  be  there  when  the  party 
appeared,  and  the  investigation  began.  Colo- 
nel Schlippersgill  and  the  old  woman  began 
their  respective  stories  in  English,  but  it  soon 
resolved  itself  into  a  verbal  duel  in  which  the 
Colonel  took  to  his  native  German  and  the  old 
woman  to  her  native  Italian,  with  the  result 
that  even  General  Eliot's  stern  face  resolved 
itself  into  a  smile,  the  auditors  were  convulsed, 
and  the  soldier  who  held  the  peacock  by  the  legs 
inadvertently  let  it  go.  When  Pippo  flew  out 
of  the  window  the  old  woman  flew  out  of  the 
door  after  it,  and  the  investigation  turned  into 
a  roaring  farce,  except  so  far  as  Colonel  Schlip- 
persgill was  concerned,  who  went  off  swearing 
that  he  "would  be  damned  but  dat  rapscallion 
dot  galled  der  Cherman  officers  a  beacock  shouldt 
be  arrested."  The  culprit,  meanwhile,  took  his 
way  gleefully  up  to  Europa  Point  with  Captain 
Curtis,  and  told  the  story  in  whispers  to  Mrs. 
Curtis  and  Langton.  Judkins,  who  was  cooking 


162  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

supper  over  a  meagre  fire,  managed  to  catch  it, 
and  for  once  his  hard  features  relaxed  into  a  grin. 
After  the  scanty  supper  was  over,  when  Archy, 
with  a  look  of  seraphic  innocence  was  walking 
out  of  the  hut,  Judkins  caught  his  eye,  and, 
touching  his  cap,  said,  in  a  grim  whisper : 
"  Sarved  them  Dutchmen  right,  sir." 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  spring  of  1780  advanced,  and  the  daunt- 
less garrison  on  the  Eock  saw  no  prospect  of  re- 
lief, but  every  man,  woman,  and  child  of  Eng- 
lish birth  only  grew  the  more  determined  not  to 
surrender.  No  complaints  were  heard  from  any 
of  them,  and  those  of  the  highest  rank  and  most 
delicate  nurture  were  the  bravest  where  all  were 
brave.  Especially  was  this  true  of  the  women, 
and  the  spectacle  of  their  patience  and  calm  cour- 
age was  inspiring  to  the  men.  The  Spanish  bom- 
bardment was  not  then  the  terrible  thing  it 
became  afterwards,  but  it  was  sufficiently  an- 
noying, and  many  officers  preferred,  as  Captain 
Curtis  did,  the  safety  of  camping  out  for  their 
families  to  the  dangers  of  the  barracks,  which 
were  often  bombarded  in  the  night-time.  The 
town,  too,  had  become  sickly,  and  the  higher 
and  purer  air  of  the  rocks  was  better  than  the 
close  quarters  of  the  narrow  streets  and  rickety 
houses,  half  wrecked  by  the  bombardment,  which 
were  hot-beds  of  disease.  Their  supplies  were 


164  THE    KOCK   OF   THE   LION 

still  plentiful,  such  as  they  were;  but  in  those 
days  only  a  few  coarse  sorts  of  provisions  could 
be  kept  for  any  length  of  time,  and  the  besieged 
people  had  to  live  on  salt  beef,  hard  biscuit,  beans, 
and  the  few  small  and  inferior  fish  they  could 
catch.  The  hard  fare  told  sadly  on  most  of 
those  who  had  to  endure  it,  but  Archy  Bask- 
erville  positively  throve  on  it,  and  grew  taller 
and  broader  and  ruddier  every  day. 

Some  weeks  passed  before  the  return  of  Don 
Martin  de  Soltomayer,  the  Spanish  Commander- 
in-Chief,  and  before  Archy  could  take  any  steps 
towards  passing  through  the  Spanish  lines.  In 
that  time  Langton  grew  much  better,  and  was 
able  to  walk  about,  although  still  pale  and  weak. 
Archy  took  the  most  devoted  care  of  him,  and 
found  also  plenty  of  time  to  do  many  small  ser- 
vices for  Mrs.  Curtis,  who  learned  to  love  him ; 
and  as  for  Dolly,  she  soon  came  to  think  him 
almost  as  agreeable  a  person  as  Judkins,  and  her 
heart  was  quite  won  when,  once  she  was  a  little 
ill,  Archy  sneaked  out  at  night  and  surreptitious- 
ly milked  the  one  old  cow  still  left  the  garrison, 
and  which  was  especially  reserved  for  the  sick. 
Mrs.  Curtis  reproved  him  for  it,  but  her  re- 
proaches sat  lightly  on  Archy — by  which  it  will  be 
seen  that  he  was  far  from  a  perfect  young  man. 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION  165 

He  was  also  an  expert  fisherman,  and  spent 
a  good  deal  of  his  time  on  the  sea-shore,  from 
whence  he  would  bring  nearly  every  day  a  few 
miserable  fish,  which  were  esteemed  the  greatest 
delicacy  by  Mrs.  Curtis,  to  whom  Archy  always 
gave  them.  Musa,  the  Moor,  was  generally  hang- 
ing about  the  shore,  engaged  in  the  same  employ- 
ment. He  was  silent  and  uncommunicative  by 
nature,  but  Archy's  irrepressible  cordiality  and 
affability  were  such  that  he  would  have  been  on 
good  terms  eventually  with  an  ogre,  so  that 
after  a  little  while  a  sort  of  friendship  came  to 
subsist  between  them.  At  long  intervals  Musa 
would  disappear  for  several  days  at  a  time,  and 
Archy  knew  well  enough  that  this  time  was 
spent  in  expeditions  to  the  African  coast.  Some- 
times Musa  would  succeed  in  getting  across  the 
Straits,  and  sometimes,  after  watching  his  chance 
for  days,  he  would  be  unable  to  elude  the  Span- 
ish cruisers,  and  would  return  to  Gibraltar. 

In  the  latter  part  of  March  the  Spanish  Com- 
mander-in-Chief  came  back,  and  Archy,  with- 
out any  trouble,  got  permission  to  go  with  a  flag 
of  truce  to  the  Spanish  headquarters.  Langton, 
who  was  still  far  from  well,  was  extremely  anx- 
ious to  go  with  him  to  the  Spanish  camp,  and,  as 
Archy  had  permission  to  take  one  companion,  he 


166  THE   KOCK    OF   THE    LION 

yielded  to  Langton's  importunities  and  agreed 
to  let  him  go. 

"Although  I  know  I  shall  have  to  lug  you 
back  up  these  rocks ;  you  will  never  be  able  to 
get  back  alone,  as  weak  as  you  are,"  he  added ; 
at  which  Judkins,  who  was  standing  by,  touched 
his  cap  respectfully,  and  said : 

"  If  Mr.  Langton  ain't  able  to  climb  up,  sir, 
or  to  git  down,  for  that  matter,  there's  a  fine, 
strong  wheelbarrow  here,  and  I  can  trundle  him 
both  ways  quite  convenient." 

Langton,  bursting  out  laughing,  cried : 

"  That  is  the  very  thing.  But  we  must  leave 
the  wheelbarrow  at  the  Land  Port.  The  Spaniards 
would  shoot  us  on  sight  in  such  a  rig." 

At  mid -day,  by  tacit  consent,  the  bombard- 
ment and  the  reply  always  abated — and  in  that 
interval  an  odd  procession  made  its  way  towards 
the  Land  Port.  Archy,  laughing  uproariously, 
with  Captain  Curtis  smiling  broadly,  preceded  the 
wheelbarrow.  In  it  sat  Langton,  quite  composed 
and  dignified,  and  evidently  enjoying  his  ride, 
while  Judkins,  looking  as  serious  as  an  under- 
taker, trundled  him  carefully  down  the  steep 
paths.  Neither  Archy's  jeers,  nor  chaff  from 
those  of  his  brother  officers  he  met,  nor  the  smiles 
of  ladies  and  children,  disturbed  Langton,  who 


THE    KOCK    OF   THE    LION  167 

calmly  descended  at  the  Land  Port,  tightened 
his  belt,  straightened  his  cap,  and  announced  that 
he  was  ready  to  see  the  Spanish  Commander 
and  his  whole  staff. 

A  soldier,  with  a  white  handkerchief  tied  to 
a  ramrod,  went  in  advance  of  them  towards  the 
isthmus.  As  soon  as  he  was  perceived,  an  officer 
in  the  uniform  of  the  Walloon  regiment  came 
towards  them,  and  they  met  about  half-way  be- 
tween the  Spanish  and  English  lines.  The  officer, 
a  remarkably  handsome  young  man,  introduced 
himself  as  Lieutenant  Von  Helmstadt,  of  the  Wal- 
loon regiment,  and  Archy  handed  him  a  letter 
from  General  Eliot  to  Doii  Martin,  which  he  re- 
ceived with  great  respect,  raising  his  cap  as  he 
did  so,  and  saying : 

"I  will  conduct  you,  with  pleasure,  if  you 
will  submit  to  the  usual  custom  of  being  blind- 
folded?" 

"  Certainly,"  responded  Archy,  taking  out  his 
handkerchief,  which  was  bound  tightly  over  his 
eyes  by  Von  Helmstadt,  and  Langton  and  the 
soldier  were  treated  likewise. 

Thus  blindfolded,  they  stumbled  on  for  a  half- 
mile  through  the  Spanish  lines.  Presently  they 
realized  that  they  were  entering  a  tent,  and 
Von  Helmstadt  removing  the  handkerchiefs  from 


168  THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION 

their  eyes,  they  found  themselves  in  the  tent  of 
Don  Martin.  The  Spanish  Commander-in-Chief 
was  a  handsome,  middle-aged  man,  with  a  truly 
Spanish  dignity  and  suavity.  The  party  was  in- 
troduced by  VonHelmstadt,  and  Archy  produced 
General  Eliot's  letter,  which  Don  Martin  read  at- 
tentively, and  then  folded  up. 

"  You  would  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  get 
through  Spain,  even  with  the  best  passports,"  he 
said,  in  French.  "  Our  people  do  not  readily 
distinguish  between  the  English  and  the  Amer- 
icans, and  they  are  now  unreasonably  exasper- 
ated against  the  English." 

"  I  know  it,  sir,"  answered  Archy,  respectfully ; 
"but  if  you  will  give  me  the  passports  I  will 
take  my  chances." 

"  It  is  a  matter  for  consideration,"  continued 
Don  Martin.  "  I  could  not  guarantee  your  safety 
a  mile  beyond  my  lines.  I  shall  have  to  lay  the 
affair  before  my  Government,  and  I  will  inform 
you  of  the  result." 

Archy,  who  was  quick  of  wit,  saw  in  a  mo- 
ment that  Don  Martin  had  no  overweening 
desire  to  pass  him  through,  and  the  immedi- 
ate turning  of  the  conversation  towards  an  in- 
different subject  convinced  him  that  he  would 
not  soon  see  the  outside  world.  After  a  few 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION  169 

minutes  they  rose,  Don  Martin  saying,  with 
great  dignity : 

"Present  my  best  compliments  to  General 
Eliot,  and  say  to  him  I  am  most  happy  to  hear 
of  his  continued  good  health,  and  that  I  will 
immediately  communicate  with  him  by  letter 
concerning  this  matter." 

They  were  again  blindfolded  before  leaving 
the  tent,  and  so  made  their  way  back  to  the 
British  lines,  accompanied  by  Yon  Helmstadt. 
The  manners  of  this  young  "Walloon  officer  had 
been  most  courteous,  and  on  parting  he  said, 
good-humoredly,  "  I  hope  that  none  of  our  balls 
has  a  message  for  you." 

"  The  same  to  you,"  responded  Langton. 

As  soon  as  they  were  out  of  ear-shot,  Langton 
said,  significantly,  to  Archy : 

"  You'll  not  get  out." 

"You  think  so?" 

"  I  know  it.  But  you'll  see  all  the  fun  "—this 
somewhat  lugubriously. 

Archy  walked  on,  sad  and  disappointed,  and 
did  not  even  smile  when  Langton  climbed  into 
the  wheelbarrow  and  Judkins  rushed  it  up  the 
steep  roadway  at  a  smart  gait. 

As  might  have  been  foreseen,  Don  Martin  did 
nothing  towards  getting  Archy  to  France. 


170  THE   KOCK    OF   THE    LION 

A  courteous  and  ornate  reply  was  received 
promptly  to  General  Eliot's  letter,  and  after  that 
came  a  long  silence.  Then  followed  a  series  of 
letters,  requesting  all  sorts  of  proof  that  Archy 
was  what  he  represented  himself  to  be.  These, 
Don  Martin  always  politely  explained,  were  in  the 
usual  order,  and  came  not  from  him,  but  from 
the  Minister  at  Madrid. 

Archy  was  asked  to  show  his  uniform  and 
sword.  He  had  neither.  There  were  more  let- 
ters, more  asseverations  of  a  desire  to  pass  him 
through ;  but  the  upshot  of  all  the  negotiations 
was  that  Archy  never  found  he  had  made  the 
slightest  real  progress  towards  getting  out.  He 
wrote  many  letters  to  his  uncle,  and  even  to  Lord 
Bellingham,  trusting  to  the  chance  of  Musa's 
getting  them  across  to  the  African  coast ;  but 
even  while  writing  them  he  felt  the  uselessness 
of  it.  And,  after  a  while,  what  seemed  to  him  a 
strange  thing  came  to  pass.  In  spite  of  his  being 
a  prisoner,  he  began  to  be  heart  and  soul  with  the 
British  garrison.  As  he  explained  it,  in  a  burst 
of  confidence,  to  Langton : 

"  I  ought  not  to  want  you  to  win.  I  ought  to 
wish  that  the  Spaniards  should  march  in  to-mor- 
row morning ;  but  I  don't — and  I  can't.  Don't 
mistake  me.  I  would  lay  down  my  life  this  mo- 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  171 

ment  to  drive  you  out  of  North  America.  That 
is  my  country,  and  there  you  are  my  enemies ; 
but,  dash  me,  Langton,  if  I  can  spend  months 
here,  eating  your  bread,  such  as  it  is,  well  treat- 
ed by  everybody,  seeing  what  a  gallant  fight  you 
are  making  against  the  Spaniards,  without  feel- 
ing as  one  of  you.  I  suppose  it  is  clean  against 
the  articles  of  war  to  feel  so,  but  I  can't  help 
it." 

"  I  would  feel  the  same  way,  I  dare  say,  under 
the  same  circumstances,"  replied  Langton.  "  You 
see,  you  are  not  a  prisoner  on  American  ground — 
or  English  ground  either,  for  that  matter;  that 
makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world.  And,  be- 
sides, you  are  not  treated  as  a  prisoner.  You 
would  be  a  queer  fish  not  to  feel  as  you  do." 

"At  all  events,  I  shall  do  my  duty;  and  if 
that  old  hidalgo,  Don  Martin  de  Stick-in-the-mud, 
thinks  I  mean  to  give  up  trying  to  get  away 
from  here,  he  does  not  know  Archibald  Basker- 
ville,  Esquire — that  much  is  plain.  I  have  writ- 
ten him  letters  in  English,  French,  and  Spanish 
— such  French  and  Spanish !  I  dare  say  the  old 
fellow  finds  the  reading  of  them  as  hard  work 
as  I  do  the  writing  them,  and  I  can  keep  it  up 
as  long  as  he  can." 

The  quiet  endurance  which  was  necessary  to 


172  THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION 

bear  this  life  of  tedium  and  hardship  patiently 
had  been  left  out  in  Archy's  make-up,  and  he  be- 
came restless,  and  yearned  for  an  adventure  of 
some  sort.  Naturally  his  mind  turned  towards  the 
sea,  and  he  began  to  wish  that  he  might  go  with 
Musa  on  one  of  his  expeditions  across  the  Straits. 
He  knew  very  well  that  if  captured  he  would  be 
taken  for  an  Englishman,  and  the  chances  were 
ten  to  one  against  him  then ;  but  he  had  no  no- 
tion of  being  captured.  Musa,  under  the  circum- 
stances, would  meet  with  great  indulgence,  as  the 
Spaniards  were  extremely  anxious  to  turn  the 
neutrality  of  the  Moors  into  active  friendship. 

The  very  day  this  scheme  entered  his  mind  he 
went  down  to  the  shore  early  in  the  morning, 
and  found  Musa  getting  his  lines  ready  to  fish 
from  the  rocks.  They  were  quite  alone,  and 
Archy  began,  artfully : 

"  Do  you  know,  Musa,  I  believe  I  should  die 
if  I  were  to  be  shut  up  like  this  anywhere  I 
could  not  see  salt-water.  I  am  a  sea-officer,  you 
know ;  and  in  my  own  dear  country,  before  I 
went  in  the  navy,  I  lived  on  a  great,  salt  bay — 
like  a  sea,  really — and  I  never  remember  the  time 
I  did  not  know  how  to  manage  a  boat." 

Musa's  reply  to  this  was  a  little  discouraging. 

"No  doubt   your  excellency  can  manage  a 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  178 

boat.  But,  generally,  the  officers  of  a  big  ship 
do  not  know  how  to  manage  a  little  boat.  They 
seem  to  think  they  can  do  as  much  with  a  small 
boat  as  with  a  big  ship,  and  they  can't." 

"  Musa,"  said  Archy,  presently,  "  I  have  read 
something  of  the  history  of  the  Moors  in  Spain. 
What  great  fellows  for  fighting  were  those 
Moors !  I  dare  say  some  of  your  ancestors  were 
chieftains  there." 

"Yes,"  answered  Musa,  proudly,  "and  they 
did  not  yield  to  the  Spaniards — they  died  fight- 
ing. Only  the  women  and  children  were  left 
alive." 

Archy  having  found  a  subject  dear  to  Musa's 
heart,  lost  no  time  in  cultivating  it.  "When  he 
had  exhausted  all  he  knew  about  the  Moors  in 
Spain,  he  left  Musa,  and,  going  up  into  the 
town,  begged  and  borrowed  the  few  books  in  the 
garrison  that  treated  of  the  Moors  in  Spain,  and 
eagerly  read  them.  Every  time  he  met  Musa  he 
had  a  new  supply  of  heroic  actions  of  the  Moors 
to  tell  about.  He  got  a  volume  of  Shakespeare, 
and,  having  mastered  the  story  of  Othello,  told  it 
very  gravely,  as  an  exact  and  well-authenticated 
history  of  the  dependence  of  the  state  of  Venice 
upon  a  Moorish  commander.  Musa  was  a  man 
of  character  and  abilities,  but  he  had  a  tremen- 


174  THE   BOOK    OF   THE   LION 

dous  supply  of  racial  vanity,  and  Archy's  artful 
praises  of  his  country  bore  fruit  immediately. 
Within  a  week  Musa  had  agreed  to  take  him  on 
a  trip  to  Tetuan,  across  the  Straits,  which  he  was 
planning  for  the  first  dark  night.  General  Eliot's 
consent  had  to  be  gained ;  but  after  a  private  in- 
terview with  him  Archy  came  forth  beaming.  It 
had  been  arranged  that  two  sets  of  despatches, 
duly  authenticated  and  sealed,  should  be  prepared 
— but  one  set  was  bogus.  If  captured,  Musa  and 
Archy  were  to  frankly  confess  they  were  carry- 
ing despatches,  and  give  up  the  bogus  ones,  and 
offer  to  get  more  if  allowed  to  return  to  Gibral- 
tar. This  stratagem  seemed  so  likely  to  succeed 
that  both  Archy  and  Musa  were  eager  to  be  off, 
and  two  nights  afterwards  a  cloudy  sky  and  a 
moonless  night  saw  them  both  in  a  small  cutter 
belonging  to  the  Enterprise,  bound  for  the  Afri- 
can side. 

Archy  had  persuaded  Musa  to  take  the  English 
boat  instead  of  the  unwieldy  tub  with  a  huge 
lateen -sail  with  which  the  Moor  was  familiar, 
and  with  the  one  sail  and  the  jib  Archy  felt  ca- 
pable of  sailing  to  America  if  necessary.  True, 
the  cutter  was  of  a  build  and  rig  unusual  in  the 
Mediterranean,  and  might  excite  suspicion  on  that 
account ;  but  Archy,  like  a  true  sailor,  preferred 


THE   KOCK    OF   THE    LIOX  175 

to  take  his  chances  in  something  that  the  wind 
could  drive  along  than  to  the  foreign  boats, 
which  he  regarded  with  unmixed  contempt.  Un- 
der Captain  Curtis's  advice  he  put  on  the  jacket 
and  trousers  of  a  Maltese  sailor  with  a  red  fez, 
and  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night  they  set  sail  for 
the  African  coast. 

The  current  which  sets  through  the  Straits  was 
in  their  favor,  as  they  were  bound  for  Tetuan, 
about  forty  miles  in  a  straight  line  from  Gibral- 
tar. Their  great  danger  lay  in  running  across 
the  Spanish  vessels,  which  cruised  incessantly  up 
and  down  the  Straits,  but  the  blockade  was  not 
then  as  strict  as  it  afterwards  became.  They 
had  a  lantern  with  them,  but  carefully  refrained 
from  showing  a  light. 

As  they  sailed  along  under  a  lowering  sky — rare 
at  that  season — they  frequently  saw  the  lights  of 
the  Spanish  cruisers,  but  they  handled  the  boat 
so  skilfully  that  they  were  not  once  hailed,  much 
less  overhauled.  A  sense  of  joy  filled  Archy's 
heart  when  he  found  himself  again  on  the  sea; 
and  seeing  his  perfect  familiarity  with  the  boat 
Musa  allowed  him  to  manage  it,  only  giving  an 
occasional  hint  about  the  currents,  with  which 
Archy  was  unfamiliar.  The  wind  did  not  fail 
them  during  the  whole  night,  and  next  day,  on  a 


176  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LIOX 

brilliant  forenoon,  they  were  off  the  old  walled 
town  of  Tetuan,  with  its  flanking  towers  show- 
ing clear  against  the  glorious  blue  of  an  African 
sky. 

They  sailed  into  the  harbor  and  landed  on  a 
rickety  old  mole,  crowded  with  Moors,  Berbers, 
Arabs,  and  Jews.  The  British  still  maintained 
a  consulate  there,  chiefly  for  the  chance  of  com- 
municating with  Gibraltar,  and,  as  soon  as  they 
landed,  Archy  went  to  the  Consul's  house.  It 
was  a  low  building,  with  many  pillars,  after  the 
Moorish  fashion,  and  under  the  quaint  colonnade 
sat  the  Consul  in  a  linen  jacket  and  slippers,  tak- 
ing his  noonday  coffee. 

"When  the  handsome  young  Maltese  sailor,  as 
Archy  looked  to  be,  with  a  bag  of  letters  over 
his  shoulder,  walked  up  to  him  in  true  Anglo- 
Saxon  fashion,  and  said,  "  Good  -  morning,  sir," 
the  Consul  nearly  fell  off  his  chair  with  surprise. 
But  Archy  soon  made  known  who  he  was,  and 
was  very  warmly  greeted.  The  Consul  eagerly 
asked  his  news  and  despatches,  and  when  he 
found  out  that  the  Eock  was  well  provisioned 
and  the  garrison  was  more  indomitable  than 
ever,  he  said : 

"  I  will  call  the  chiefs  and  principal  men  of  the 
town  together  to-morrow,  that  I  may  tell  them 


THE   EOCK   OF   THE    LION  177 

your  story— for  their  respect  for  England  and 
English  rights  will  be  very  much  increased  there- 
by ;  and,  meanwhile,  you  must  be  my  guest." 

Archy  was  only  too  happy  to  accept,  and  spent 
the  next  twenty-four  hours  chiefly  in  gobbling 
oranges — the  first  fruit  he  had  seen  for  months — 
and  galloping  up  and  down  the  environs  of  the 
town  on  a  vicious  donkey,  with  which  he  had 
several  disagreements,  that  invariably  ended  in 
the  donkey  pitching  him  heels -over -head.  But 
Archy  did  not  mind  a  little  thing  like  that,  and 
was  always  ready  to  tackle  the  donkey  again. 

Next  day  a  great  assemblage  of  Tetuan  nota- 
bilities met  at  the  Consul's  house,  and  while  sitting 
around  a  tinkling  fountain  in  the  court-yard,  with 
coffee,  sherbet,  and  pipes,  the  Consul,  seated  in 
the  middle,  with  Archy  on  one  side  and  Musa  on 
the  other,  began  the  story  of  the  failure  of  the 
Spanish,  so  far,  to  capture  Gibraltar.  He  spoke 
in  Italian,  which  is  the  lingua  franca  of  that  re- 
gion, and  frequently  turned  to  Archy  and  Musa 
for  confirmation.  Archy  did  not  know  a  word 
of  the  lingua  franca,  but  he  nodded  his  head 
gravely  whenever  the  Consul  turned  to  him  with 
a  note  of  inquiry  in  his  voice. 

The  chiefs  and  notabilities  sat  silent  and  atten- 
tive, puffing  at  their  pipes ;  and  it  was  plain  that 


178  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

they  were  deeply  impressed  by  what  they  heard. 
The  confabulation  broke  up  after  several  hours, 
and  Archy  returned  to  his  amusement  of  stuffing 
oranges  and  riding  donkeys. 

The  Consul  took  a  day  or  two  to  make  up  his 
despatches,  and  to  get  together  the  few  and  scant 
letters  and  despatches  that  he  had  received  for 
the  garrison  by  merchant-ships  and  such  stray 
means  of  communication.  They  were  concealed 
in  oranges,  hollowed  out  for  the  purpose,  and  put 
in  a  bag  which  was  carefully  stowed  away  in 
the  cutter.  As  fresh  fruit  was  not  only  the 
greatest  luxury  but  the  greatest  necessity  of  the 
Gibraltar  garrison,  in  which  scurvy  had  appeared, 
the  cutter  was  filled  with  as  much  as  she  could 
carry  without  impeding  her  sailing  qualities — 
and  then  came  the  waiting  for  a  dark  night. 

But  the  nights  refused  to  grow  dark,  and,  em- 
boldened by  their  success  in  eluding  the  Spanish 
cruisers  before,  both  Archy  and  Musa,  on  the 
third  evening,  determined  to  take  the  chances, 
and,  the  wind  being  fair,  they  sailed  in  the  after- 
noon for  Gibraltar. 

Bright  as  was  the  night,  and  white  as  was 
their  sail,  it  seemed  as  though  they  would  slip 
through  the  blockading  fleet  as  easily  as  they 
had  six  nights  before.  They  passed  several  Span- 


THE   BOOK   OF   THE   LION  179 

ish  cruisers,  and  were  hailed  more  than  once ;  but 
their  boat  was  so  small,  and  holding  only  two 
men,  no  further  effort  was  made  to  stop  them. 
About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  it  really 
began  to  grow  dark,  and  they  were  not  more 
than  ten  miles  from  Gibraltar  in  a  straight  line, 
they  found  themselves  unexpectedly  close  to  a 
Spanish  gun-brig.  They  were  hailed,  and,  as  be- 
fore, paid  no  attention,  and  continued  on  their 
tack.  The  brig,  however,  put  about  and  came 
after  them,  emphasizing  her  desire  to  speak  with 
them  by  firing  a  blank  cartridge  at  them.  It  was 
then  high  time  to  take  some  notice  of  it,  but  in- 
stead of  heaving  to  they  tacked  for  the  brig,  and 
in  a  few  minutes  were  alongside.  The  Spanish  of- 
ficer of  the  deck,  leaning  over  the  rail,  called  out : 

"  Who  are  you  2" 

"  Let  me  come  aboard  and  I  will  tell  you,"  re- 
plied Musa. 

In  another  minute  he  was  on  board,  leaving 
Archy  to  hold  the  boat. 

Archy  could  not  catch  the  conversation  be- 
tween Musa  and  the  Spanish  lieutenant,  but  he 
saw  Musa  show  the  bogus  despatches,  then  both 
went  below  and  remained  ten  minutes,  evidently 
in  the  captain's  cabin.  They  came  on  deck  again, 
and  Musa  had  a  little  bag  in  his  hand,  and  a  let- 


180  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

ter.  He  swung  himself  into  the  cutter,  the  lieu- 
tenant and  one  or  two  of  the  watch  called  out 
"Good-bye!"  and  immediately  they  were  pro- 
ceeding in  opposite  directions. 

Musa  stowed  his  bag  away  carefully,  and  then, 
in  response  to  Archy's  eager  questions,  said : 

"  He  gave  me  fifty  doubloons  for  my  despatch- 
es, and  a  letter  to  the  commanding  officer  of  any 
Spanish  vessel  that  may  stop  us,  telling  them  to 
let  us  pass  into  Gibraltar,  as  we  have  brought 
them  valuable  news  and  may  bring  more." 

"  Hurrah !"  cried  Archy,  under  his  breath. 

But  they  were  not  stopped  any  more,  and  un- 
der cover  of  darkness  they  again  slipped  into 
Gibraltar  Bay.  About  a  mile  from  the  nearest 
point  of  debarkation  they  were  chased  by  a 
Spaniard,  but  a  battery  near  by  opened  fire  vig- 
orously, and  under  cover  of  the  cannonade  they 
landed.  It  was  then  after  sunrise,  and  the  firing 
had  roused  the  garrison. 

As  soon  as  they  landed  they  went  to  head- 
quarters, accompanied  by  a  number  of  officers, 
including  Captain  Curtis  and  Langton  and  a 
crowd  of  other  persons. 

When  they  were  in  General  Eliot's  presence 
Musa  motioned  to  Archy  to  speak,  and  Archy 
motioned  to  Musa — so  there  was  silence. 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  181 

"  Will  you  proceed,  Mr.  Baskerville  ?"  asked 
General  Eliot. 

Archy,  thus  adjured,  gave  an  account  of  the 
trip,  and  produced  the  letters  and  despatches. 

Then  Musa,  with  great  dignity,  laid  the  little 
bag  of  doubloons  down  on  the  table. 

"  Excellency,  I  was  afraid  to  refuse  them,  but 
I  do  not  consider  the  money  mine,"  he  said. 

"  Then  whose  is  it  ?"  asked  General  Eliot. 

"  I,  as  an  officer,  can  take  none  of  it,"  replied 
Archy,  quickly. 

"  Musa,  it  is  yours,"  said  General  Eliot,  "  and 
it  does  not  half  repay  what  you  have  done  for 
us.  As  for  you,  Mr.  Baskerville,  I  can  only  say 
that  now,  more  than  ever,  we  regard  you  as  a 
friend  instead  of  an  enemy — a  guest  instead  of 
a  prisoner." 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  siege  proceeded  determinedly,  and  every 
day  the  blockade  grew  stricter,  and  the  garrison 
was  hemmed  in  more  closely  both  by  land  and 
sea.  No  naval  expedition  had  been  organized 
against  the  little  British  squadron  that  lay  under 
the  guns  of  the  fortress,  but  it  was  scarcely 
thought  probable  that  Admiral  Barcelo,  with  his 
blockading  fleet,  which  stretched  the  length  of 
the  Straits,  would  not  attack  it.  Admiral  Duff, 
who  commanded  the  little  British  squadron  of 
five  ships,  only  one  of  which  carried  sixty  guns, 
fully  expected  it,  and  made  ready  for  it.  Cap- 
tain Curtis's  ship,  the  Enterprise,  of  twenty- 
eight  guns,  being  short  of  officers,  Langton 
was  formally  assigned  to  her  as  soon  as  he  was 
fully  recovered.  This  left  Arc  by  alone  in  their 
hut  on  Europa  Point.  He  had  ostensibly  noth- 
ing to  do ;  but  there  are  few  occasions  on  which 
a  kind  heart,  an  active  brain,  and  good  legs  and 
arms  cannot  find  some  useful  work,  and  he 
found  it  in  many  ways.  The  officers  and  men  were 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  183 

so  vigilant,  night  and  day,  at  the  guns,  erecting 
new  batteries,  repairing  old  ones,  shifting  guns 
from  a  good  position  to  a  better,  that  they  could 
give  but  little  attention  to  the  women  and  chil- 
dren. There  was  always  plenty  for  them  to  do, 
and  Archy,  who  at  home  in  America  had  been 
accustomed  to  being  waited  on  every  moment 
by  black  servants,  now  very  cheerfully  did  for 
others  what  he  had  been  used  to  having  done  for 
him.  Whenever  there  was  a  distribution  of  sup- 
plies he  was  always  on  hand  to  help  the  weak, 
the  sick,  and  the  old  with  their  precious  bur- 
dens. 

Every  night  before  turning  in  Captain  Curtis 
would  show  a  light  from  his  cabin  window, 
which  meant  to  his  anxious  wife  on  the  Rock 
that  all  was  well,  and  in  reply  a  lantern  would 
be  flashed  to  him  from  the  little  hut  on  Europa. 

One  night  in  the  early  part  of  June,  1780, 
Archy  was  walking  back  to  the  hut,  after  show- 
ing the  light,  when  he  saw  Musa  standing  in  the 
pathway.  The  night  was  dark  and  rainy,  and 
a  Levanter  —  that  wind  which  brings  cold  and 
misery  and  illness — was  blowing  fiercely.  Musa 
touched  him  on  the  arm,  and  spoke  in  perfectly 
good  English : 

"  Good-evening,  Excellency." 


184  THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION 

"  Good-evening,  Musa.  What  are  you  doing 
up  here  this  time  of  night  ?" 

"  I  came  to  see  his  Excellency,  Captain  Curtis. 
I  thought  I  could  read  the  lights  on  the  ship, 
and  that  he  was  ashore,  but  he  is  on  his  ship.  I 
am  going  to  him  now." 

"  Is  there  to  be  a  night  attack  ?" 

"  How  should  I  know,  Excellency  ?"  answered 
Musa,  who  could  keep  his  own  counsel. 

Archy  -went  back  to  the  hut,  left  the  lantern, 
and  said,  cheerfully,  to  Mrs.  Curtis : 

"  I  think  I  shall  go  down  to  the  mole  and  ask 
Captain  Curtis  if  I  may  stay  aboard  ship  with 
Langton,"  which  was  a  very  usual  thing  for  him 
to  do. 

Archy  walked  fast  down  the  hill,  for  it  was 
nearly  nine  o'clock,  after  which  no  one  was 
permitted  to  pass  the  sentries  except  by  giving 
the  countersign.  He  reached  the  new  mole  just 
as  the  slight  commotion  of  relieving  the  guard 
was  heard.  The  Enterprise  was  anchored  no  great 
distance  from  the  mole,  in  advance  of  the  other 
four  small  vessels  of  the  squadron  near  by,  and 
the  last  boat  was  just  putting  off.  Langton  was 
in  it,  and  Musa  also,  and  in  response  to  Lang- 
ton's  cordial  invitation  Archy  jumped  aboard. 

Arrived  at  the  ship,  they  found  Captain  Curtis 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION  185 

taking  a  walk  on  the  quarter-deck  before  turning 
in.  Langton  asked  permission  for  Archy  to  re- 
main on  board  all  night,  which  Captain  Curtis  at 
once  granted,  and  then  turned  to  speak  to  Musa, 
who  evidently  had  something  to  communicate. 

Archy  followed  Langton  below,  to  a  little 
cabin  which  had  been  given  him,  not  on  account 
of  his  rank,  but  because  of  the  lack  of  the  full 
number  of  officers  on  the  ship.  As  soon  as  they 
were  alone,  Archy  said,  significantly : 

"  I  think  that  Arab  fellow  suspects  an  attack 
is  to  be  made  to-night." 

"Yery  likely.  If  Captain  Curtis  had  been 
Admiral  Barcelo  he  would  have  burned  or  scut- 
tled us  long  ago." 

"  I  shall  sleep  on  the  floor  here,  if  you  don't 
mind." 

"  Do  you  expect  me  to  give  you  my  bunk  ?" 

"If  I  wanted  it  I'd  throw  you  out,  but  as 
you  are  a  little  boy,  and  the  grandson  of  a  lord, 
you  may  keep  it." 

"I  wonder  what  our  respected  grandfather 
would  say  if  he  had  to  sleep  in  a  hole  like  this?" 

"He  would  say  a  whole  dictionary ful,  and 
smash  everything  he  could  lay  his  hands  on  be- 
sides." 

"  Pleasant  old  person,  he  must  be." 


186  THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

"  "We  will  make  a  visit  to  Bellingham  Castle 
together  when  the  war  is  over — when  we  have 
walloped  you,  and  when  I  am  a  post-captain  in 
the  American  navy,  and  you  are  still  a  midship- 
man in  the  steerage." 

At  which  Langton,  now  quite  as  strong  as 
Archy,  kicked  at  him,  and  the  two  immediately 
engaged  in  a  friendly  and  noiseless  scuffle,  for 
Captain  Curtis  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  and 
kept  an  orderly  ship. 

Just  as  Langton  had  succeeded  in  getting  Archy 
down,  and  had  planted  his  knee  firmly  on  that 
young  gentleman's  broad  chest,  the  cabin  door 
accidentally  swung  open,  and  there  was  Captain 
Curtis  passing  Toy.  Both  young  fellows  jumped 
as  if  they  were  shot.  Captain  Curtis  said  nothing, 
but  his  look  of  inquiry  was  answered  by  Archy's 
saying: 

"  Mr.  Langton  and  I  were  having  a  friendly 
tussle  over  —  what  was  it,  Lanky  ?  Our  grand- 
father, or  the  war  ?" 

"  The  war,"  replied  Langton,  smiling. 

"You  may  have  a  tussle  of  another  sort  to- 
night," said  Captain  Curtis,  coolly.  "  There  is  a 
prospect  of  an  attack  on  us  before  morning.  If 
you  wish  to  go  ashore,"  he  continued,  turning  to 
Archy,  "  I  can  send  you  in  my  gig." 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  187 

Now  the  idea  of  being  on  shore  when  any- 
thing was  going  on  aboard  ship  was  harrowing 
to  Archy,  and  he  made  haste  to  protest. 

"I  have  no  objections  to  your  staying,"  said 
Captain  Curtis.  "I  think  an  attempt  will  be 
made  to  burn  the  ship,  and  every  able-bodied 
man  who  can  handle  a  bucket  will  be  welcome. 
You  will  not,  of  course,  be  called  upon  to  do  any 
fighting,  but  you  must  provide  yourself  with  a 
cutlass  and  a  brace  of  pistols  to  defend  your- 
self in  case  the  Spaniards  should  board  us — for 
in  the  melee  they  will  not  stop  to  inquire  your 
nationality.  Good -night,"  and  Captain  Curtis 
passed  on. 

Langton  went  out  and  called  the  master -at- 
arms,  who  produced  a  cutlass  and  a  pair  of  navy 
pistols,  and  Archy,  placing  them  under  his  pil- 
low, rolled  himself  in  a  blanket  on  the  floor  and 
meant  to  go  fast  asleep.  But  he  could  not.  The 
wind  rose  and  the  ship  began  to  roll.  Neither 
could  Langton  sleep  ;  so  they  spent  the  hours  in 
talking  in  whispers,  chiefly  about  their  family  con- 
cerns, and  each  anticipating,  after  the  fashion  of 
the  young  and  hopeful,  that  their  whole  lives 
were  to  be  ordered  exactly  as  they  wished. 
Archy  even  predicted  that  Langton  would  dis- 
tinguish himself  so  much  that  he  would  be  of- 


188  THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

fered  a  peerage,  and  then  his  grandfather,  in 
default  of  other  heirs,  would  have  him  made 
Lord  Bellingham,  of  Bellingham  Castle.  Lang- 
ton,  who  Avas  of  a  cooler  nature  than  Archy, 
laughed  at  this,  but  admitted  that  he  would  not 
mind  being  Lord  Bellingham's  heir,  and  would 
do  the  handsome  thing  by  Archy,  by  his  mother, 
his  sisters — everybody. 

Midnight  came  and  went,  and  just  as  two  bells 
were  striking  they  heard  a  hail  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  ship.  The  reply  came  back  imme- 
diately : 

"  This  is  the  Hind,  provision-ship,  from  Eng- 
land." 

"  But  that  is  no  English  voice  that  says  so," 
were  Langton's  words  to  Archy  as  they  both 
rose,  and,  taking  their  arms,  stepped  out  into 
the  gangway. 

They  heard  the  officer  of  the  deck  shout 
"  Keep  off !"  and  the  next  minute  every  crack 
and  cranny  of  the  ship  was  illuminated  with  an 
unearthly  red  light.  Langton  rushed  up  on  deck, 
followed  by  Archy. 

Within  half  a  cable's  length  of  them  was  a  fire- 
ship,  with  six  others  following  in  a  compact  semi- 
circle. The  decks  were  glowing  redly  with  the 
combustibles  that  were  already  lighted  to  throw 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  189 

aboard  the  Enterprise,  and  the  few  men  who 
were  to  fire  the  ship  were  dashing  the  burning 
fuses  at  her;  but  they  fell  short,  and  dropped 
harmlessly  in  the  black  water.  Captain  Curtis 
had  already  ordered  the  boats  to  be  lowered 
away,  and  this  was  done  with  the  utmost  steadi- 
ness and  quickness.  When  Langton  stepped  into 
his  boat,  Archy  involuntarily,  and  without  ask- 
ing himself  why  he  did  so,  followed  him.  No  one 
ordered  him  back  —  in  fact,  no  one  thought  of 
him.  All  were  engrossed,  as  he  was,  in  the  ter- 
rible work  before  them  of  grappling  and  destroy- 
ing the  fire-ships,  which  the  wind  was  driving  on 
to  the  Enterprise  and  her  consorts.  With  a  yell, 
the  Spaniards  on  each  of  the  fire-ships  dropped 
into  the  boats  they  were  towing  astern,  and, 
taking  to  their  oars,  made  off  rapidly  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night. 

Every  ship  in  the  British  squadron  was  awake 
and  alive  then,  and  their  boats  had  taken  the 
water.  The  Enterprise,  though,  being  the  far- 
thest out,  seemed  to  be  the  target  for  which  all 
the  fire-ships  were  aiming ;  and,  borne  by  wind 
and  tide,  they  were  drifting  frightfully  fast  upon 
her.  Her  boats,  however,  managed,  in  the  most 
seaman-like  manner,  to  intercept  them,  and  grap- 
pled with  them,  while  the  combustibles  on  their 


190  THE   ROCK    OF    THE    LION 

decks  were  blazing,  the  flames  were  running  up 
their  rigging,  and  the  tremendous  explosions  of 
powder  crashed  out  and  made  the  solid  rock  to 
shake.  The  boats,  in  danger  of  being  swamped 
every  moment,  of  being  blown  skyward,  and  of 
being  engulfed  in  fire,  yet  did  their  duty  man- 
fully. Langton's  boat,  with  another  one,  made 
fast  to  the  foremost  fire-ship,  and  the  men,  bend- 
ing to  their  oars  with  a  will,  towed  it  blazing 
and  exploding  to  the  rocks,  where  it  was  run, 
ashore,  and  the  boat  made  off  just  as  one  last 
crash  blew  the  burning  hulk  to  pieces. 

The  garrison  took  the  alarm,  and  a  furious  can- 
nonade from  a  hundred  guns  burst  upon  the  night. 
The  scene  was  awful  beyond  description.  The 
very  Kock  itself  seemed  to  blaze  with  light  from 
its  batteries,  while  the  red  glare  from  the  burn- 
ing vessels  cast  a  vivid,  unearthly  brightness 
upon  sea  and  shore  and  ships.  In  the  midst  of 
it,  two  large  Spanish  frigates  were  seen  to  emerge 
from  the  darkness,  as  it  were,  into  the  circle  of 
fire,  and  steer  straight  for  the  little  Enterprise. 
The  batteries  on  shore  instantly  directed  all  their 
fire  towards  the  two  ships,  and  that,  with  the  smart 
broadside  from  the  ship,  and  the  shells  that  were 
dropping  everywhere,  forced  them  to  withdraw. 

For  two  hours  the  fight  with  the  fire-ships 


THE   ROCK   OF  THE   LION  191 

continued,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time  they  were 
all  driven  ashore,  and  lay  in  wrecked  and  smoul- 
dering masses  on  the  rocks. 

Archy  scarcely  remembered  what  part  he  had 
in  the  affair,  except  that  he  sat  in  the  stern- 
sheets  with  Langton  and  helped  to  handle  the 
grappling-irons  while  the  men  pulled ;  but  when 
it  was  all  over,  and,  smoke-begrimed  and  weary, 
they  clambered  over  the  side  of  the  ship,  Captain 
Curtis  met  them,  and,  grasping  Langton's  hand, 
said: 

"  I  never  saw  a  boat  better  handled  in  my  life 
— and  you,  Mr.  Baskerville,  did  your  part  well." 

That  was  praise  enough  for  Langton  and 
Archy. 

It  was  nearly  four  o'clock  before  they  were 
ready  to  turn  in,  and  dawn  was  beginning  to  ap- 
pear. The  town  had  been  thoroughly  alarmed, 
and  crowds  ran  down  to  the  mole  as  soon  as  the 
danger  was  over. 

Archy  recognized  Judkins's  stalwart  figure  in 
the  dim  light  as  he  trotted  down  the  hill,  trun- 
dling the  identical  wheelbarrow  which  had  been 
Langton's  coach  on  a  former  occasion.  As  soon 
as  he  reached  the  shore  he  began  to  fill  his 
wheelbarrow  with  floating  pieces  of  the  wreck 
for  fire- wood,  which  was  very  scarce. 


192  THE    KOCK   OF   THE    LION 

Judkins  was  a  thrifty  soul,  and  before  any- 
body had  time  to  draw  a  long  breath,  after  the 
dangers  they  had  escaped,  he  was  looking  out 
for  the  comfort  of  Mrs.  Curtis  and  Dolly  in  the 
matter  of  fuel. 

At  four  o'clock  Langton  had  to  take  his  watch, 
and,  on  going  below  a  few  minutes  beforehand,  he 
found  Archy  snugly  tucked  in  his  berth  and 
sleeping  like  a  baby,  after  his  night  of  excite- 
ment. 

The  failure  of  this  attack  apparently  discour- 
aged the  Spaniards,  and  as  the  summer  pro- 
gressed they  seemed  to  rely  more  upon  starving 
the  garrison  out  than  upon  a  direct  attack  with 
their  present  means.  They  therefore  confined 
themselves  to  a  strict  blockade  by  night  and  day, 
and  devoted  all  their  energies  to  making  new 
and  tremendous  fortifications  on  the  isthmus, 
upon  which  they  mounted  great  numbers  of 
heavy  guns,  provided  with  vast  magazines  of 
ammunition.  This  last  was  very  injudicious, 
as  it  turned  out.  General  Eliot,  observing  all 
they  did,  purposely  let  them  carry  the  work, 
during  the  summer  and  autumn,  to  a  certain 
point,  disturbing  them  little ;  but  he  had  a  deep 
and  far-reaching  scheme  in  regard  to  this.  He 
had  determined  upon  a  sortie,  and  on  the  even- 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION  193 

ing  of  the  26th  of  November,  after  gun-fire  and 
the  closing  of  the  gates  for  the  night,  the  or- 
ders were  given.  Everything  had  been  arranged 
beforehand,  but  only  two  or  three  officers  be- 
sides General  Eliot  knew  of  the  plan,  as  the 
utmost  secrecy  was  essential. 

As  most  of  the  regular  garrison  was  necessary 
to  remain  in  charge  of  the  fortress,  the  attack- 
ing body  of  two  thousand  men  was  made  up 
largely  of  the  sailors  and  marines  from  the 
squadron  in  the  harbor.  Captain  Curtis  was  to 
be  in  command  of  the  left  column,  and  Langton 
was  one  of  the  young  officers  to  be  under  him. 

The  men  for  the  sortie  were  to  assemble  with- 
out beat  of  the  drum  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  when  the  moon  would  be  gone  down ; 
but  they  were  notified  at  nine  o'clock  the  night 
before.  There  was  no  suspicion  of  anything  un- 
usual in  the  air  until,  at  half -past  nine  o'clock 
that  night,  Captain  Curtis  and  Langton  were 
seen  coming  up  the  path  towards  the  hut,  and 
the  little  group  assembled  there  knew  in  a  mo- 
ment that  something  unlocked  for  had  happened. 

Mrs.  Curtis  and  Archy  were  sitting  within  the 
rude  shelter,  while  outside,  in  the  full  radiance  of 
a  brilliant  moon  that  lighted  the  heavens  with 
glory,  sat  Dolly,  wrapped  up  in  a  huge  old  boat- 


194  THE   ROCK   OF    THE    LION 

cloak  of  her  father's,  with  Judkins  by  her.  The 
two  had  been  singing,  and,  as  Judkins's  bashful- 
ness  forbade  him  to  sing  in  the  presence  of  Mrs. 
Curtis,  the  two  had  retired,  according  to  custom, 
to  a  nook  in  the  rock,  whence  they  could  be 
heard  but  not  seen. 

"  Eow,  Judkins,"  Dolly  was  saying,  "  we  only 
have  time  to  sing  the  evening  hymn  before  I  must 
go  to  bed.  I  always  think  of  papa  on  his  ship 
when  I  sing  it,  and  wish  he  were  here  to  listen 
to  it." 

"True  for  you,  Miss  Dolly,"  answered  Jud- 
kins, gravely.  "It's  'opin'  I  am  that  my  hon- 
ored cap'n  may  be  with  his  little  girl  more  than 
he  is  now — when  them  bloody  Spaniards  leaves 
off  tryin'  to  beat  us  off  our  own  ground,  and  goes 
'ome  and  minds  their  business  as  they  ought  to." 

And  then  their  voices  rose  in  sweetness — Jud- 
kins's rich  barytone  and  Dolly's  bird-like  soprano ; 
and  they  had  two  reverent  hearers  in  Captain 
Curtis  and  Langton,  who  stopped  a  little  distance 
off  and  listened,  with  bared  heads,  to  this  sweet 
and  simple  hymn. 

"  Why,  there's  papa  now  —  and  Mr.  Langton 
too !"  screamed  Dolly,  and,  according  to  custom, 
she  flew  towards  her  father  and  swung  around 
him. 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  195 

Mrs.  Curtis  forbore  to  ask  any  questions  until 
Dolly  was  gone,  after  a  specially  affectionate 
good-night  from  her  father ;  and  when  she  was 
out  of  the  way,  Captain  Curtis  said  but  one 
word: 

"  Sortie." 

But  that  one  word  meant  volumes.  Archy 
had  never  ceased  to  admire  and  respect  the  forti- 
tude of  the  women  in  all  the  dreadful  events 
that  he  had  seen  of  the  siege,  and  he  admired  it 
more  than  ever  when  he  observed  the  calm  cour- 
age with  which  Mrs.  Curtis  received  this  an- 
nouncement. There  was  danger  in  the  attempt 
— extreme  danger ;  but  instead  of  weakly  bewail- 
ing it,  and  distressing  Captain  Curtis  by  her 
fears,  Mrs.  Curtis  showed  a  gentle  self  -  control 
and  a  desire  that  Captain  Curtis  should  have  an 
opportunity  to  serve  his  country  still  further 
which  was  nobly  inspiring. 

Their  time  was  short,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
Captain  Curtis  and  Langton  were  on  their  way 
back.  Archy  and  Judkins  were  with  them.  As 
they  walked  along  Archy  was  considering  anx- 
iously how  he  could  manage  to  go  along  with 
the  attacking  column  and  yet  observe  his  char- 
acter as  a  prisoner  of  war. 

Besides  his  natural  and  indomitable  love  of 


19C  THE   BOCK   OF    THE   LION 

adventure,  life  on  the  Rock  was  a  drearily  mo- 
notonous business,  and  any  break  in  it  would 
have  been  eagerly  sought  by  a  young  man  of 
less  daring  disposition  than  Archy  Baskerville. 
But — a  non-combatant — he  was  turning  over  in 
his  mind  what  device  he  could  hit  upon  on  which 
to  base  his  request,  when  Judkins  showed  him 
the  way. 

"  If  you  please,  sir,"  said  Judkins  to  Captain 
Curtis,  "  maybe  the  likes  o'  me  ought  not  to  ax 
it,  but  there  will  be  some  poor  wounded  men 
lyin'  in  the  trenches  and  ditches  after  this  here 
sortie,  and  I'd  be  monstrous  glad,  sir,  if  you 
could  let  me  go  out,  sir,  in  the  rear,  sir,  along 
with  the  men  from  the  'orspital,  to  help  fetch 
them  poor  souls  back,  when  they  can't  get  back 
of  themselves,  sir." 

"Very  well,"  replied  Captain  Curtis,  "I  think 
you  can  be  useful,  and  I  will  mention  it  to  the 
Commander-in-Chief." 

"  And  I,  sir,"  said  Archy,  in  a  wheedling  voice. 
"  You'll  hardly  do  it  for  Judkins  and  refuse  me  ? 
I  assure  you,  sir,  I  will  not  go  one  step  beyond 
where  I  am  ordered;  and  you  see,  sir,  what  a 
strong  fellow  I  am.  Judkins  and  I  could  man- 
age a  stretcher  famously  between  us— couldn't 
we,  Judkins  2" 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  197 

"  Lord  !  yes,  sir,"  was  Judkins's  answer,  with  a 
broad  grin  of  approbation. 

And  so,  at  three  o'clock  of  a  dark  morning, 
when  the  column  moved  out  in  death-like  silence, 
behind  them  marched  the  hospital  corps,  and 
with  that  corps  were  Archy  Baskerville  and  old 
Judkins. 


CHAPTER  Xm 

THE  night  was  pitch-dark,  and  the  three  de- 
tachments marched  out  in  perfect  silence.  The 
Spaniards  had  no  suspicion  of  an  attack  until 
the  first  division  was  directly  at  the  outer  line 
of  fortifications.  Then  the  sentries  quickly  gave 
the  word,  the  drums  beat  the  alarm,  and  the 
camp  of  fourteen  thousand  men  was  roused  in 
an  instant.  The  first  onslaught,  however,  of  the 
British  was  irresistible.  They  overpowered  the 
guard,  and  the  work  of  firing  and  destroying 
the  guns  and  fortifications  immediately  began. 
Before  the  Spanish  Conimander-in-Chief,  in  the 
darkness  and  confusion,  could  get  his  troops 
under  arms  the  blowing  up  of  the  magazines 
had  begun,  and  whole  batteries  of  guns  had  been 
spiked.  The  bastions  and  gabions  were  fired, 
and  so  rapid  and  thorough  were  the  British  in 
their  work  that  it  was  all  over  before  the  Span- 
iards realized  what  was  happening,  and  the  Brit- 
ish were  making  for  the  Land  Port  gate. 

The  Spanish  camp  had  been  thrown  into  the 
greatest  confusion,  and  their  first  line  of  fortifi- 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE    LION  199 

cations  was  now  past  saving.  The  noise  and  the 
bursting  out  of  flames  and  the  explosions  of 
powder  were  dreadful,  but  all  were  between  the 
British  and  their  foes.  The  losses  of  the  detach- 
ment had  been  trifling,  and  Archy  Baskerville 
had  found  nothing  to  do  except  to  stand  off  and 
watch  the  quick  progress  of  events.  But  while 
the  three  divisions  were  retreating  rapidly  and 
in  good  order  to  the  gate,  he  saw  in  a  ditch  in 
front  of  him  an  officer  lying  on  his  side  and 
groaning  with  agony. 

"Help  here!"  cried  Archy;  and  in  another  mo- 
ment Judkins  was  at  his  side,  and  the  two  had 
the  officer  on  a  stretcher  and  were  carrying  him 
with  a  rush  towards  the  British  lines,  the  officer 
meanwhile  feebly  protesting. 

"  Xo,  no,"  he  cried ;  "  let  there  be  one  Spaniard 
to  die  with  honor  at  his  post." 

And  in  a  moment  more,  by  the  light  of  burn- 
ing timbers  and  bursting  bombs,  Archy  saw  that 
he  was  the  young  Walloon  officer,  Yon  Helm- 
stadt,  whom  he  had  seen  mouths  before  at  the 
time  of  his  first  effort  to  get  out  of  the  fortress. 
Day  was  breaking  as  they  carried  him  fainting 
into  the  hospital.  The  surgeons  managed  to  re- 
vive him,  and  then,  examining  him,  told  him  he 
must  lose  his  leg. 


200  THE   BOCK    OF   THE   LION 

"  No,  no,"  he  cried ;  "  better  to  die  at  once ! 
Why  did  not  that  brave  young  man  leave  me  to 
my  fate?  All  would  have  been  over  by  this 
time." 

Archy  could  stand  no  more,  but  rushed  out 
and  up  to  Europa  Point,  where  he  found  Mrs. 
Curtis  watching  and  waiting. 

"  I  have  not  been  in  my  bed  this  night,"  she 
said.  Archy,  with  a  bursting  heart,  told  her  of 
Von  Helmstadt.  He  had  a  deep  feeling  of  sym- 
pathy for  the  young  Walloon  officer,  so  far  from 
home,  and  in  such  heart-breaking  straits.  There 
was,  however,  little  else  but  rejoicing  on  the 
Rock  that  day,  for  the  result  of  the  sortie  was 
in  the  highest  degree  favorable  to  the  besieged. 
The  Spaniards  saw  in  two  hours  the  complete 
destruction  of  what  had  cost  them  months  of 
labor  and  millions  of  money  to  construct.  They 
seemed  paralyzed  by  their  loss,  and  for  a  while 
the  besieged  had  a  respite. 

But  there  was  no  respite  in  the  blockade.  The 
supplies  left  by  Rodney's  fleet  were  beginning  to 
grow  very  scant,  and  although  all  eyes  in  the 
garrison  every  morning  for  months  scanned  the 
sea  for  the  sails  of  a  British  fleet,  none  appeared. 
As  the  year  1780  drew  to  a  close  the  prospects 
of  the  garrison  grew  darker.  The  sufferings  of 


HE  SAW   AN   OFFICER   I-YING   IN   A   DITCH 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  201 

the  sick  were  acute,  and  none  more  so  than  those 
of  poor  Von  Helmstadt,  who  daily  gre\v  worse. 
He  resisted  the  taking-off  of  his  leg,  which  the 
doctors  told  him  was  the  only  means  of  saving 
his  life,  until  at  last  General  Eliot  himself  went 
to  his  bedside  and  begged  him  to  submit. 

"  I  have  a  reason,  sir,"  replied  Von  Helmstadt. 
"  I  am  engaged  to  marry  a  beautiful  and  charm- 
ing girl.  If  I  lose  my  leg  and  live,  how  can  I  ask 
her  to  tie  herself  to  a  mutilated  creature,  as  I 
shall  be,  for  life  ?  Yet  I  know  her  constancy  so 
well  that  I  am  sure  she  will  be  the  more  deter- 
mined on  fulfilling  her  promise  to  me." 

"But  your  duty  to  your  country,"  argued 
General  Eliot, "  and  your  duty  to  your  family  ? 
Have  you  not  a  mother,  a  father — some  one  whose 
heart  would  be  broken  if  you  sacrifice  your  life 
to  this?" 

Von  Helmstadt  remained  silent  for  a  moment. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  after  a  pause,  while  his  eyes 
filled  with  tears, "  I  have  a  mother  and  a  father, 
too.  You  are  right,  General.  It  is  my  duty  to 
live,  even  if  I  live  mutilated." 

The  whole  garrison  took  the  deepest  interest  in 
this  brave  young  man.  The  best  of  their  poor 
supplies  was  reserved  for  him,  and  nothing  was 
too  much  to  be  done  for  him  in  the  hope,  at  least, 


202  THE    BOCK    OF   THE    LION 

of  lessening  his  sufferings.  Archy  and  Judkins 
became  heroes  as  his  rescuers.  Every  day  Archy 
visited  him,  and  was  received  affectionately  by 
him,  even  in  his  utmost  misery.  His  patience 
was  so  touching,  his  courage  so  unbroken,  that 
often  Archy  would  leave  the  bedside  completely 
unmanned  by  the  sight  of  Von  Helmstadt's  suffer- 
ings, and  the  sorrowful  conviction  that  all  was  in 
vain.  Nor  was  the  heroic  young  officer  forgot- 
ten by  his  own  friends,  and  daily  flags  of  truce 
came  to  inquire  after  him  and  to  bring  messages 
and  letters  from  his  comrades. 

He  bore  the  agony  of  amputation  with  extraor- 
dinary bravery,  but  after  a  day  or  two  of  hope 
he  grew  very  ill,  and  soon  it  was  seen  that  the 
end  was  near. 

Never  had  Archy  Baskerville  in  his  life  felt 
so  painful  an  interest  as  in  this  gallant  young 
man,  whom  he  had  helped  to  save  from  one 
death  only  to  see  him  die  in  a  more  lingering 
and  distressing  manner.  They  were  the  only  two 
souls  within  the  gates  of  the  beleaguered  fortress 
who  had  not  common  cause  with  the  besieged. 
At  last,  after  four  weeks  of  suffering,  the  end 
came  on  Christmas  Eve.  The  time  itself  was 
solemn  instead  of  joyful,  and  it  was  made  more 
sad  by  the  death  of  the  brave  young  prisoner  for 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION  203 

whom  every  one  in  the  fortress  felt  such  tender 
sympathy.  The  Spaniards  were  notified  imme- 
diately that  the  body  would  be  carried  to  them 
the  next  day  with  military  honors. 

Never  could  Archy  Baskerville  forget  the 
Christmas  of  1780.  It  was  a  beautiful,  mild  day, 
but  to  those  brave  souls  imprisoned  and  fighting 
for  their  lives  on  the  Kock  of  Gibraltar  there 
was  a  melancholy  glory  in  the  day  which  seemed 
to  make  their  situation  the  more  poignant. 
Want  and  scarcity  prevailed  in  all  things  except 
the  implements  of  war  and  destruction.  There 
was  no  Christmas  cheer,  but  the  congregations  that 
assembled  in  the  garrison  chapel  and  the  Catho- 
lic church  in  the  town  were  quiet  and  resigned, 
like  people  who  have  ever  before  them  the  pros- 
pect of  death  and  bereavement.  As  soon  as  the 
morning  services  were  over  the  sad  procession 
was  formed  to  carry  Yon  Helmstadt's  body  to 
the  Spaniards.  It  was  determined  to  take  it  by 
water,  and  all  the  boats  in  the  little  squadron 
were  drawn  up  at  the  new  mole  for  the  escort, 
while  on  the  Spanish  side  a  similar  procession 
was  waiting  to  move. 

The  flag  on  the  hospital  was  at  half-mast,  and 
a  large  detachment  of  troops,  with  all  the  high- 
est officers  of  the  garrison,  and  a  body  of  seamen 


204  THE    KOCK   OF   THE    LION 

and  marines  under  Captain  Curtis's  command, 
was  formed  to  receive  the  body  when  it  was 
brought  out.  Archy  Baskerville,  as  the  one  who 
had  brought  the  young  Walloon  officer  in,  was 
given  a  place  among  the  mourners  who  followed 
the  gun-carriage  on  which  the  coffin  lay,  wrapped 
in  the  Spanish  flag. 

To  the  solemn  strains  of  the  dead-march  and 
the  booming  of  minute-guns  the  procession 
moved,  followed  by  General  Eliot  as  chief 
mourner,  with  many  officers  of  high  rank,  and 
Archy  Baskerville,  the  youngest  person  among 
them,  walking  in  the  last  line.  They  reached 
the  new  mole  presently,  where  the  body  was 
transferred  to  the  first  cutter  of  the  Enterp)>ise, 
and  Captain  Curtis  then  took  command.  At  the 
same  moment  that  the  boats  put  off  from  the 
British  side  the  procession  started  from  the  Span- 
ish side.  Midway  in  the  bay  they  met,  when  the 
Spaniards  received  the  body,  and  the  British  cut- 
ters turned  back.  Out  of  respect  to  the  Span- 
iards, who  would  not  have  understood  the  cus- 
tom, the  British  refrained  from  playing  the  lively 
airs  with  which  they  endeavor  to  lighten  the 
hearts  of  the  men  returning  from  a  comrade's 
funeral,  and  slowly  and  solemnly  they  pulled 
back  to  their  own  ground. 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  205 

Never  had  the  prospects  of  Archy  Baskerville's 
reaching  France  seemed  more  improbable  than 
on  that  melancholy  Christmas  night  of  1780. 
Yet  within  twenty-four  hours  he  found  himself 
far  beyond  both  the  British  and  Spanish  lines, 
and  free — free  to  take  his  desperate  chances  of 
escape  through  a  country  where  he  might  at  any 
moment  be  mistaken  for  an  Englishman,  and 
where  an  Englishman  could  expect  no  mercy. 

The  evening  of  Christmas  Day  was  one  of 
mist  and  gloom.  Archy  had  spent  the  early  part 
of  the  afternoon  in  the  hut  at  Europa,  where 
they  had  made  a  little  festival,  such  as  their  poor 
means  allowed,  for  Dolly,  and  she  and  Judkins 
had  sung  them  a  Christmas  hymn ;  and  then,  as 
people  will  in  sad  times,  they  had  sat  around  the 
scanty  fire  and  told  of  happy  Christmas-times  in 
the  past.  Archy  felt  strangely  unhappy.  Besides 
the  sorrows  of  their  own  condition,  he  had  heart- 
breaking anxieties  about  his  country  and  the 
mortal  struggle  in  which  she  was  engaged,  and 
even  his  hopeful  and  buoyant  spirit  gave  way 
under  the  misery  and  monotony  of  the  long 
months  of  the  siege. 

About  eight  o'clock  they  separated — Captain 
Curtis  and  Langton  to  return  to  their  ship,  and 
Archy,  out  of  pure  restlessness,  goin#  down  to 


206  THE   ROOK    OF   THE   LION 

the  shore  with  them.  Mrs.  Curtis's  last  words 
spoke  the  hope  and  cheerfulness  which  seemed 
to  dwell  in  every  one  of  the  heroic  women  on 
the  Kock. 

"  Good-night,  Arch}',"  she  said.  "  All  will  be 
bright  in  the  morning,"  and  Dolly  swung  round 
his  neck,  asking : 

"  Why  don't  you  laugh,  Archy,  and  be  merry, 
and  make  us  all  laugh,  as  you  always  do  ?" 

"  Because  I  can't  now,  Dolly,"  answered  Archy, 
kissing  her  and  putting  her  down.  "  But  next 
time  you  see  me  I  will  be  just  as  gay  as  a  bird." 

Then,  with  Captain  Curtis  and  Langton,  he 
started  for  the  shore.  At  the  mole  the  Enter- 
prise boat  was  waiting,  and  the  last  that  Archy 
heard  in  the  darkness  of  a  misty  night  was  a 
cheery  "  Good-night — good-night !"  from  Captain 
Curtis  and  Langton.  Long  time  was  it  to  be  be- 
fore he  was  to  hear  those  well-loved  voices  again. 
Archy  walked  along  the  shore  towards  the  isth- 
mus in  the  dusky  evening.  He  kept  close  to  the 
shore,  listening  to  the  boom  of  the  waves,  and  so 
absorbed  in  his  own  melancholy  thoughts  that 
he  scarcely  noticed  where  he  was  going.  The 
shore  was  well  patrolled,  and  it  was  common 
enough  for  him  to  walk  there  in  the  evening. 

At  one  point  within  the  English  lines  a  num- 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION  307 

ber  of  small  boats  were  tied  to  a  huge  stake,  and 
into  one  of  these  Archy  stepped  and  seated  him- 
self. The  sentry  who  was  passing  looked  curi- 
ously at  him,  and  then,  saluting,  went  on.  He 
was  a  man  in  the  garrison  who  knew  Archy 
personally,  and  he  did  not  think  it  strange  that 
the  young  American  midshipman  should  pause  in 
his  walk  and  rest  a  while  in  the  boat. 

The  mist  was  gathering  fast,  and  the  wind  was 
sweeping  in  from  the  Mediterranean,  and  it  was 
growing  very  dark.  Archy  was  roused  by  hear- 
ing the  nine-o'clock  gun  fired.  He  lifted  his  head 
and  the  thought  came — 

"  I  shall  have  to  communicate  with  Captain 
Curtis,  so  as  to  pass  the  sentries  and  get  back  to 
Europa." 

He  turned  to  spring  ashore,  but  he  found  the 
line  had  parted,  and  the  boat  had  drifted  out  a 
considerable  distance.  He  felt  in  the  bottom  for 
oars.  There  were  none.  The  darkness  had  de- 
scended like  a  pall,  and  the  wind  suddenly  became 
a  gust.  He  could  see  nothing,  but  he  knew  that 
wind  and  tide  were  driving  him  towards  the 
Spanish  lines.  He  was  by  nature  well-equipped 
to  meet  danger,  and  in  a  moment  his  brooding 
depression — the  rarest  of  moods  for  him — gave 
place  to  coolness,  calmness,  and  perfect  self-pos- 


208  THE   EOCK    OF   THE    LION 

session.  He  was  a  good  swimmer,  and  quickly 
determined  that  his  best  chance  lay  in  swim- 
ming ashore  as  soon  as  the  boat  drifted  near 
enough.  He  took  off  his  jacket  and  shoes,  fast- 
ened them  into  a  bundle  under  his  arm,  and, 
fixing  his  eyes  on  the  lights  on  shore,  quietly 
waited  until  they  grew  nearer. 

All  at  once  a  flood  of  black  rain  descended 
that  blotted  out  everything.  The  wind  seemed 
to  blow  from  all  quarters  at  the  same  instant, 
and  the  boat's  head  swung  round.  The  lights 
both  on  sea  and  shore  disappeared,  and  Archy 
was  drifting  he  knew  not  where. 

He  reflected  that  he  was  in  no  great  danger 
of  being  upset,  and  if  he  drifted  far  enough  he 
would  be  in  the  midst  of  the  Spanish  fleet.  But 
in  the  darkness  he  had  no  idea  how  fast  the  boat 
was  moving — he  only  knew  the  tide  was  swift 
and  strong.  Nor  could  he  measure  very  well  the 
time  he  had  been  in  the  boat.  He  listened  in- 
tently for  the  striking  of  the  bells  in  the  little 
English  squadron,  but  after  straining  his  ears  for 
an  interminable  time  it  seemed  to  him,  as  he  sat 
in  the  little  boat  that  rushed  through  the  seeth- 
ing water  in  the  blackness  of  darkness,  the  con- 
viction came  to  him  that  he  was  far  out  of  reach 
of  that  friendly  and  encouraging  sound. 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION  209 

He  could  see  neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the 
left  of  him,  and  at  that  moment  he  had  an  al- 
most overpowering  impulse  to  jump  out  of  the 
boat  and  swim,  so  trying  were  the  sitting  still 
and  being  swept  he  knew  not  where ;  but  he  said 
to  himself : 

"  If  I  were  swimming  about  in  the  darkness, 
how  glad  I  would  be  if  my  hand  struck  this 
boat — how  eagerly  I  would  climb  in !  No ;  I'll 
stick  to  the  boat  until  I  can  see  more  than  ten 
feet  ahead  of  me." 

Ages  passed,  it  seemed  to  him,  for  every  hour 
is  an  age  in  such  circumstances.  He  thought  the 
day  would  never  come.  At  last,  when  the  dawn 
seemed  as  far  off  as  ever  —  it  was  really  only 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning — the  rain  ceased, 
and  the  atmosphere  cleared  enough  for  him  to 
see  that  he  was  near  the  shore ;  and  oh,  joy ! 
there  was  a  light !  He  felt  sure  that  he  was  far 
beyond  the  Spanish  lines. 

As  his  sharp  eyes  pierced  the  dim  and  un- 
earthly light,  which  was  increased  by  the  declin- 
ing moon  that  shone  fitfully  out  of  a  still  stormy 
sky,  he  saw  that  he  was  on  a  broken  and  irregu- 
lar coast,  and  a  black  mass,  from  which  he  could 
faintly  discern  the  light,  he  took  to  be  buildings. 
He  saw  that  he  was  being  carried  closer  to  the 


210  THE   ROCK   OF    THE   LION 

shore  every  moment,  and  in  a  little  while  he  was 
near  enough  to  jump  overboard,  not  forgetting 
his  jacket  and  shoes,  and  a  few  bold  strokes 
landed  him  once  more  on  hard  earth. 

His  first  impulse  was  of  sincere  thankfulness. 
One  of  the  great  lessons  he  had  learned  of  his 
immortal  commander,  Paul  Jones,  was  that  man 
should  recognize  his  Maker,  and  he  had  never 
seen  that  great  man  either  go  into  or  come  out 
of  any  danger  without  commending  himself  to 
the  Most  High ;  and  having  done  this,  Archy 
proceeded  to  follow  Paul  Jones's  example  fur- 
ther by  taking  the  most  active  and  energetic 
measures  on  his  own  account.  He  saw  that  he 
was  approaching  a  homestead,  large  and  impos- 
ing, with  numerous  outbuildings,  and  when  he 
was  close  to  it  he  saw  that  the  light  came  from 
a  small  addition  to  the  main  pile,  which  was 
built  around  a  court -yard,  after  the  Spanish 
fashion. 

Archy's  quick  mind  had  grasped  the  fact  that 
if  he  spoke  English  he  would  at  once  be  taken 
for  either  a  spy  or  a  deserter,  and  as  he  did 
not  relish  figuring  in  either  of  these  characters, 
he  determined  to  rely  upon  his  small  stock  of 
French,  and  still  smaller  stock  of  Spanish,  which 
last  he  had  picked  up  while  at  Gibraltar. 


THE    ROCK    OF   THE   LION  211 

Wet  and  shivering,  and  carrying  his  drenched 
jacket  and  shoes,  he  cautiously  approached  the 
small,  unshuttered  window  from  which  the  light 
proceeded,  and  peered  in.  The  room  was  very 
humble,  apparently  that  of  an  upper  servant.  A 
lamp  had  been  left  burning,  and  on  the  hearth 
fire  still  smouldered.  A  wooden  platter  with 
some  food  on  it  was  on  the  hearth.  The  room 
was  quite  empty,  and  Archy  shrewdly  suspected 
that  it  was,  perhaps,  the  quarters  of  some  priv- 
ileged servant,  who  had  gone  out  for  a  time,  ex- 
pecting to  return,  and  had  not  come  back.  As 
food  and  fire  were  what  he  most  wanted  then, 
he  concluded  that  it  was  the  part  of  wisdom  to 
help  himself ;  so  he  softly  raised  the  window 
and  climbed  in,  only  to  find,  on  trying  it,  that 
the  door  was  open,  and  he  might  have  entered 
that  way. 

He  thought  it  best  not  to  fasten  either  the 
door  or  window,  but  to  proceed  and  make  him- 
self comfortable.  A  pile  of  fagots  lay  in  a  cor- 
ner, and  in  half  a  minute  he  had  a  roaring  fire. 
He  had  no  great  fancy  for  sitting  in  wet  clothes, 
and  seeing  a  cupboard  in  a  corner,  he  opened  it, 
expecting  to  find  probably  a  footman's  outfit. 
But,  instead,  there  was  a  handsome  and  com- 
plete costume  of  a  Spanish  peasant  —  a  green 


212  THE   KOCK    OF   THE   LION 

velvet  jacket,  brown  cloth  knee-breeches  with 
silver  buttons,  leggings,  shoes,  and  a  red  cap. 

Archy,  promptly  stripping  off  his  drenched 
clothing  and  hanging  it  at  the  fire  to  dry,  af- 
ter removing  his  money,  watch,  and  pocket-knife, 
proceeded  to  array  himself  in  the  warm,  dry  gar- 
ments before  him ;  and  then,  surveying  himself 
in  a  piece  of  cracked  mirror  on  the  wall,  he  could 
not  suppress  a  grin,  thinking : 

"  I  wonder  what  Pedro,  or  Sancho,  or  whatever 
his  name  is,  will  say  when  he  finds  I  have  appro- 
priated his  Sunday  clothes !" 

In  the  same  cupboard  was  a  small  skin  of  the 
sour  wine  used  by  the  peasantry.  Archy  made 
a  wry  face  over  the  uninviting  draught,  but 
drank  some,  and  then  cleaned  the  platter  neat- 
ly of  a  vast  quantity  of  garlic-and-onion  dressed 
stun7,  which  he  relished  exceedingly — after  which 
he  felt  quite  himself  again.  He  concluded  to 
sally  forth  and  make  a  reconnoissance  of  his  posi- 
tion, and,  closing  the  door  softly  behind  him,  was 
again  under  the  murky  night  sky.  In  another 
small  room  he  saw  lights  and  heard  faint  sounds 
of  carousing.  The  servants  were  evidently  mak- 
ing a  night  of  it.  In  the  huge,  dim  court-yard  a 
large  leather  -  covered  coach  stood  where  the 
mules  had  been  unhitched  from  it. 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE    LION  213 

While  Archy  was  looking  at  this  vast  old 
machine  he  saw  the  door  open  from  which  the 
sounds  of  subdued  merrymaking  had  come,  and 
several  servants  sallied  forth.  Archy  involun- 
tarily opened  the  coach  door  softly  and  got  in, 
and,  the  better  to  hear,  he  laid  himself  almost 
flat  on  the  long  and  broad  front  seat  of  the 
coach,  which  was  piled  with  cloaks  and  blankets, 
and  through  a  crack  in  the  leather  curtain  could 
see  and  hear  everything. 

"  I  wish  Don  Miguel  was  not  in  such  a  hurry 
to  start  for  Madrid  in  the  morning.  Going  off 
before  sunrise  and  travelling  until  dark  doesn't 
suit  my  constitution,"  grumbled  one  of  them. 

"Never  mind,  Pedro.  That  comes  of  living 
with  grand  people  like  Don  Miguel  de  Lima. 
They  are  always  more  trouble  than  any  oth- 
ers. Thank  the  saints  that  my  people  are  plain 
country  gentlemen  and  ladies.  They  don't  travel 
any.  They  haven't  been,  thirty  miles  from  home 
in  thirty  years." 

Pedro,  leaning  up  against  the  coach  wheel, 
continued  to  grumble : 

"  And  Don  Miguel,  because  he  was  bred  in  the 
army,  likes  everything  done  at  double-quick. 
I  don't  believe  he  even  takes  a  siesta.  And  he 
can't  be  worried  and  fretted  into  giving  up  his 


214  THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION 

own  way,  as  some  masters  and  mistresses  can. 
He  is  the  coolest  old  martinet  I  ever  saw — I 
don't  believe  the  devil  himself  could  disconcert 
him." 

The  servants  seemed  to  have  no  notion  of  go- 
ing to  bed,  but  continued  to  gossip  in  whispers. 
Archy  listened  with  all  his  ears.  Madrid !  That 
meant  liberty !  If  only  he  could  get  to  Madrid 
with  Don  Miguel — but  how  could  it  be  managed? 
At  all  events,  he  meant  to  strike  out  for  the 
French  frontier  when  daylight  came  —  at  the 
worst,  he  could  only  be  caught  and  imprisoned 
again.  Possibly  he  might  lose  his  life  —  but 
Archy's  was  a  mind  which  harbored  hope  and 
drove  fear  out  of  the  window.  He  remember- 
ed his  wet  clothes  by  the  fire,  and  dreaded  to 
see  Pedro  or  Sancho  go  towards  the  back  of  the 
house.  It  was  cold  in  the  coach.  So  Archy 
covered  himself  up  warmly  as  he  lay  and  await- 
ed events.  He  never  felt  more  wide  awake  in 
his  life,  but  the  warmth,  the  rest,  the  food,  and 
the  sour  wine  were  too  much  for  him,  and  he 
suddenly  fell  into  a  deep  and  dreamless  sleep. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

IT  seemed  but  a  few  minutes  afterwards,  al- 
though it  was  really  several  hours,  before  Archy 
knew  anything  more,  and  then  it  was  a  jolt  of 
the  coach  that  waked  him.  His  senses  returned 
instantly,  and  he  knew  where  he  was.  He  kept 
perfectly  still,  and  peeping  through  the  crack  in 
the  curtain,  behind  which  he  lay,  still  covered  up, 
he  saw  that  they  were  travelling  along  the  high- 
way towards  the  dim  mountain  ranges.  Day  had 
dawned,  and  the  sun  was  rising  over  a  beautiful 
landscape,  although  it  was  still  December.  Six 
stout  niules  drew  the  unwieldy  vehicle  along  at 
a  slashing  gait. 

Archy  turned  his  head  cautiously,  so  as  to  see 
without  being  seen,  and  perceived  a  stout,  sol- 
dierly looking  old  man  leaning  back  among  the 
cushions  and  sleeping  soundly,  as  his  vociferous 
snores  and  snorts  indicated  unmistakably. 

"  This  is  Don  Miguel  de  Lima,"  thought  Archy. 
"  He  will  wake  up  presently,  and  I  can  introduce 
myself  better  if  I  am  sitting  up  and  conducting 


216  THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION 

myself  like  an  officer  and  a  gentleman  than  in 
hiding  here  like  a  brigand." 

Archy  then  quietly  slipped  to  his  feet,  and, 
setting  himself  back  in  the  coach,  calmly  faced 
the  old  gentleman. 

But  Don  Miguel  did  not  wake  up  soon  —  he 
snored  and  snorted  and  slept  for  a  couple  of 
hours  more,  and  the  sun  was  high  in  the  heavens 
before  he  opened  his  eyes,  and  saw,  as  he  sup- 
posed, a  handsome  young  peasant,  who  had  ap- 
parently dropped  out  of  the  sky,  in  the  coach 
with  him. 

Don  Miguel  fully  sustained  Pedro's  account 
of  his  sang-froid,  and  after  carefully  examining 
Archy,  and  seeing  at  the  first  glance  that  it  was 
not  a  peasant,  but  a  handsome  and  soft -handed 
young  gentleman,  dressed,  for  purposes  of  his 
own,  in  peasant's  costume,  he  said,  in  a  tone  of 
calm  inquiry : 

"Well,  sir?" 

Archy,  giving  the  old  gentleman  a  military 
salute,  replied  promptly  in  the  best  Spanish  he 
could  muster : 

"  I  believe  I  have  the  honor  of  addressing  his 
Excellency  Don  Miguel  de  Lima.  I  am  Mid- 
shipman Archibald  Baskerville,  late  of  the  con- 
tinental ship  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  now  a 


THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION  217 

prisoner  on  parole  " — and  then  he  added, "  Amer- 
icano." 

Archy  got  this  far  glibly  enough,  but  when  he 
wished  to  describe  how  he  got  into  his  present 
rig  his  Spanish  was  totally  inadequate,  and  he 
took  refuge  in  French ;  but  his  acquirements  in 
that  line  running  short,  he  dropped  into  English, 
and  gave  Don  Miguel  a  very  animated  account 
of  his  adventures  from  the  time  he  found  him- 
self in  the  boat  until  that  moment.  Don  Miguel 
listened  with  the  utmost  courtesy  and  atten- 
tion, and  when  Archy  stopped  for  want  of  breath, 
calmly  remarked,  in  Spanish  : 

"  Your  narrative  is  very  interesting,  no  doubt ; 
but  I  have  not  understood  one  word  of  it.  I 
only  know  Spanish  and  French." 

Archy,  nothing  discouraged,  began  again.  He 
pulled  out  his  watch  and  money,  and  that,  with 
what  he  could  tell  about  the  boat  and  the  loss  of 
his  clothes,  and  certain  keen  observations  which 
Don  Miguel  made  himself,  convinced  him  that  the 
young  man  who  had  suddenly  rolled  out  from 
among  the  cloaks  and  blankets  in  the  coach  was 
what  he  represented  himself  to  be.  Archy  could 
not  but  admire  the  cool  courage  of  the  old  man, 
who  took  so  debonairly  the  society  of  an  un- 
known, who  might  be  a  robber  or  a  murderer. 


218  THE   BOCK    OF   THE   LION 

Not  a  word  more  was  spoken,  while  they 
rolled  and  bumped  along  the  high-road,  until 
twelve  o'clock,  when,  reaching  a  little  village 
among  the  hills,  they  stopped.  Pedro  sprang 
from  the  box,  opened  the  door,  and  nearly  faint- 
ed when  Archy  almost  jumped  into  his  arms. 

Archy  then,  bowing  low  to  Don  Miguel,  thank- 
ed him  ceremoniously,  and  saluted  him  as  an 
officer.  Don  Miguel  gravely  returned  the  salute. 
At  the  inn  Archy  got  something  to  eat,  and,  pro- 
viding himself  with  a  loaf  of  bread  and  a  lot  of 
cheese,  struck  out  gayly  on  the  highway  towards 
Madrid.  '  The  day  was  bright,  and  the  air,  the 
space,  the  freedom,  the  exercise  were  exhilarating 
to  Archy's  active  nature  and  sanguine  temper- 
ament. The  only  thing  that  troubled  him  was 
that  his  friends  at  Gibraltar  would  be  in  distress 
about  him.  Probably  at  that  very  moment  they 
were  in  deep  grief,  supposing  him  to  be  drowned. 
He  remembered,  however,  the  courtesy  of  the 
Spanish  authorities  in  regard  to  letters,  and  de- 
termined at  the  next  posting-house  to  write  to 
Don  Martin  de  Soltomayer,  inclosing  a  letter  to 
General  Eliot  and  another  to  Captain  Curtis. 
With  this  anxiety  off  his  mind  he  trudged  along 
cheerfully  enough,  shrewdly  calculating  that  Don 
Miguel  would  overtake  him,  and  possibly  give 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION  219 

him  a  lift.  Many  persons  met  and  passed  him, 
chiefly  peasants  in  carts,  and  in  about  two  hours 
he  heard  a  tremendous  clattering  and  jangling, 
and  the  coach  with  its  six  fine  mules  hove 
in  sight.  Archy,  walking  along  the  pathway, 
was  intensely  disappointed  when  it  rattled  on, 
with  nothing  more  from  Don  Miguel  except  a 
bow  in  response  to  Archy's.  But  after  it  had 
passed  it  stopped,  and  Pedro  came  running  back 
to  say  that  his  excellency  desired  to  speak  to  the 
sefior — for  Pedro,  too,  had  discerned  the  gentle- 
man under  the  peasant's  dress. 

Archy,  secretly  delighted,  went  up  to  the  coach, 
and  Don  Miguel  asked  him  where  he  was  bound. 

"  To  Madrid,  and  thence  to  France." 

"  Get  in,"  said  Don  Miguel,  briefly,  and  Archy 
got  in. 

He  thanked  Don  Miguel  in  his  best  French- 
Spanish,  and  then  inquired  about  the  next  post- 
ing-house, where  he  could  write  a  letter,  men- 
tioning that  he  had  once  met  Don  Martin  de 
Soltomayer,  and  would  endeavor  to  notif}7  his 
friends  of  his  safety,  through  Don  Martin. 

"I  know  him  well,"  replied  Don  Miguel. 
"  Has  his  deafness  increased  ?" 

"He  was  not  deaf  at  all  when  I  saw  him," 
answered  Archy. 


230  THE    EOCK    OF   THE    LION 

"Ah.  Perhaps  it  was  his  eye  that  was  fail- 
ing him — has  he  but  one  ?" 

"  He  had  two  when  I  saw  him." 

By  which  Don  Miguel  discovered  that  Archy 
really  knew  Don  Martin. 

They  made  no  further  stop  until  they  halted 
for  the  night  at  an  inn  and  posting-house.  Archy 
wrote  his  letters,  and  finding  that  a  courier  for 
Gibraltar  was  expected  in  the  next  two  days, 
felt  relieved  in  his  mind.  He  dared  not  spend 
any  of  his  small  amount  of  money  in  a  room, 
and  slept  in  the  hay-loft.  By  sunrise  he  was  on 
his  way  again,  and,  as  on  the  day  before,  he  was 
overtaken  by  the  coach  and  given  a  lift.  Stop- 
ping at  a  little  town  that  day,  Archy  bought  a 
couple  of  shirts,  and,  finding  a  bookstall,  he  in- 
vested a  few  copper  coins  in  a  Spanish  dictionary 
and  grammar.  Reduced  entirely  to  Spanish  and 
French,  it  was  surprising  to  him  how  magically 
he  learned  both,  especially  Spanish ;  and  in  a 
few  days  he  found  he  could  take  care  of  him- 
self very  well  in  the  Spanish  language.  Don 
Miguel  and  he  conversed  much  then,  and  Archy 
could  describe  fluently,  if  ungrammatically,  and 
interlarded  with  French,  the  fight  of  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  and  many  other  incidents  which 
established  his  identity  as  an  officer  and  a  gen- 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  221 

tleman  with  an  experienced  man  of  the  world 
like  Don  Miguel.  He  carefully  avoided  any  ref- 
erence to  Gibraltar,  and  when  Don  Miguel  asked 
him  how  he  got  into  the  open  boat,  Archy  floun- 
dered so  in  his  effort  to  tell  about  it  in  Spanish 
that  Don  Miguel  could  not  make  head  or  tail  of 
it — which  was  just  what  Archy  desired. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  either  was  bored  with 
the  other's  company.  Don  Miguel  retained  a 
taste  for  adventure,  and  was  secretly  amazed  at 
Archy's  coolness,  gayety,  and  boyish  bravado, 
while  Archy  had  sense  enough  to  show  both  grat- 
itude and  respect  to  a  man  who  had  really  helped 
him  as  had  Don  Miguel. 

On  the  morning  of  the  day  when  they  expect- 
ed to  reach  Madrid,  Don  Miguel  asked  Archy 
what  his  plans  were. 

"  To  go  to  the  French  Ambassador,  declare  my- 
self, and  ask  to  be  sent  to  France." 

"The  French  Embassy  is  closed  on  account 
of  small -pox,  so  I  have  heard  in  the  last  few 
days.  But  I  can  easily  introduce  you  to  the 
Minister  of  Marine,  who  will  investigate  your 
case." 

"  May  I  ask  how  long  this  would  take,  Excel- 
lency?" 

Don  Miguel  shrugged  his  shoulders. 


323  THE   BOCK    OF   THE   LION 

"  A  month — two  months,  perhaps.  The  Min- 
ister of  Marine  will  not  be  hurried." 

Archy  sat  silent,  and  reflected.  Presently  he 
said: 

"With  these  clothes,  and  the  little  money  I 
have,  I  believe  I  could  get  to  the  French  frontier 
in  half  the  time." 

"Do  you  expect  to  be  taken  for  a  Spanish 
peasant  ?"  asked  Don  Miguel,  with  a  suspicion  of 
a  smile. 

"  No,"  answered  Archy,  smiling  very  broadly. 

Their  last  halt  was  at  a  large  and  flourishing 
village  near  Madrid.  Some  sort  of  &festa  was 
going  on ;  everybody  was  out  in  holiday  clothes, 
and  a  company  of  strolling  mountebanks  was 
giving  a  performance.  There  were  slack  and 
tight  rope  walking,  and  dancing  dogs,  and  a 
conjurer  who  ate  fire. 

Don  Miguel,  while  the  mules  were  baiting,  sat 
in  his  coach  in  the  little  public  square,  but  Archy 
had  to  be  in  the  midst  of  things.  He  wandered 
about,  and  mixed  with  the  village  people,  who, 
in  their  turn,  mixed  with  the  strollers,  all  being 
upon  the  most  informal  terms.  After  the  tight- 
rope performance  a  trapeze  was  set  up,  and  a 
harlequin,  all  in  tights  and  spangles,  came  out 
and  gave  an  alleged  athletic  performance  which 


THE   BOCK    OF   THE    LION  223 

delighted  the  audience,  but  sent  Archy  into  fits 
of  laughter.  The  midshipmen  on  board  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  and  those  on  the  Royal  George, 
who  were  accustomed  to  run  all  over  the  rig- 
ging a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  from  the  deck, 
could  discount  this  unambitious  gentleman, 
thought  Arch}7,  and  as  he  commonly  gave  ex- 
pression to  what  was  in  his  mind  he  said  this 
out  loud. 

u  Do  you  think  so  ?"  replied  the  person  to 
whom  he  made  this  indiscreet  remark.  "  Perhaps 
you  will  show  us  something  much  better  than 
that  which  we  like." 

"  No,  I  thank  you,"  replied  Archy.  "  It  is  not 
in  my  line  to  do  such  things  in  public." 

A  group  had  gathered  round  him,  and  a  chorus 
of  jeers  and  sneers  went  up.  The  effect  of  this 
on  Archy  Baskerville  may  easily  be  imagined. 
He  tore  off  his  green  velvet  jacket,  kicked  off 
his  shoes,  and,  springing  on  the  trapeze,  began 
a  performance  which  was  certainly  far  superior 
to  the  professional's,  although  not  up  to  Archy's 
best  form  when  on  board  ship.  He  swung  by 
his  feet,  his  knees,  his  chin ;  he  made  a  spring 
and  reached  the  wire,  which  was  only  a  few  feet 
above  the  trapeze.  He  worked  rapidly  along  the 
wire  by  his  feet  and  hands  until  he  came  to  the 


224  THE   BOCK    OF   THE    LION 

end,  which  was  fastened  to  the  stone  balcony  of 
a  tall  building  with  a  chimney.  By  that  time  the 
people  were  applauding  frantically.  He  shinned 
up  the  front  of  the  building  by  the  windows 
and  balconies,  and,  reaching  the  chimney,  climb- 
ed to  the  top  and  squared  himself  off  astride 
of  it  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets.  It  was  not 
nearly  so  high  as  the  maintop-gallant  yard  of  the 
Royal  George,  where  he  had  often  been. 

The  people  at  this  went  wild.  "Women  shrieked 
and  implored  him  to  come  down,  and  when  he 
turned  to  come  down  they  shrieked  louder  than 
ever.  It  would  have  been  a  dangerous  pastime 
for  any  one  except  a  sailor ;  but  in  a  few  min- 
utes Archy  had  dropped  to  the  ground,  and,  put- 
ting on  his  jacket  and  shoes,  went  up  to  Don 
Miguel,  who  still  sat  in  the  coach  as  unruffled  as 
ever. 

"You  are  a  very  venturesome  young  man," 
was  his  only  comment. 

"Oh  no,  sir,"  answered  Archy;  "that  is  the 
sort  of  thing  we  are  taught  aboard  ship.  A  fel- 
low that  couldn't  run  all  over  the  rigging  would 
be  in  a  bad  way.  I  wager  my  friend,  the  acrobat 
yonder,  couldn't  do  it." 

The  crowd  quite  surrounded  the  coach  then, 
much  to  Don  Miguel's  disgust,  who  ordered  them 


THE    KOCK    OF   THE    LION  225 

away.  All  left  except  one  man,  who  was  the 
manager  of  this  band  of  strolling  acrobats.  He 
could  not  be  persuaded  that  Archy  was  not  a 
professional  acrobat,  in  spite  of  his  evidently 
being  on  terms  with  the  grandee  in  the  coach. 
He  beckoned  Archy  a  little  way  from  the  door 
of  the  great  lumbering  vehicle,  and  whispered  in 
his  ear : 

"  What  will  you  take  to  join  us  ?  We  are  on 
our  way  north,  perhaps  as  far  as  the  Basque 
Provinces.  I  see  you  have  been  in  the  business, 
and  we  shall  do  well  in  the  North.  What  will 
you  take,  I  say  ?" 

Archy  looked  at  the  man  as  if  he  were  crazy, 
but  in  half  a  minute  he  began  to  see  the  matter 
in  a  new  light.  To  the  North — to  the  French 
frontier ;  that  would  be  quicker  and  better  than 
waiting  indefinitely  in  Madrid.  And  if  it  leaked 
out  that  he  had  come  from  Gibraltar  he  was 
sure  to  be  regarded  with  suspicion  by  the  Madrid 
authorities. 

"  How  long  do  you  expect  to  be  on  the  road  ?" 
he  asked,  under  the  influence  of  these  new  ideas. 

"  About  two  weeks.  We  shall  only  give  per- 
formances in  the  large  villages  and  towns.  We 
want  to  reach  Vitoria  and  St.-Jean-de-Luz  by 
the  middle  of  January,  as  they  have  festas  about 


296  THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

that  time;  and  then  we  can  come  southward 
again  before  the  Carnival.  What  will  you  take, 
I  say  ?" 

"  How  many  of  you  are  there  ?" 

"Myself  and  my  wife  —  she  tells  fortunes; 
Juan,  who  does  the  tight-rope;  and  Luis  and  his 
wife — they  are  all.  What  will  you  take  for  your 
services  ?" 

"  One-eighth  of  the  receipts,"  said  Archy,  not 
knowing  in  the  least  whether  he  was  making  a 
good  bargain  or  not,  except  that  here  was  a 
chance  to  reach  the  frontier. 

"  Done !"  cried  the  manager,  joyfully. 

Archy  went  up  to  Don  Miguel  and  told  him 
what  he  had  done.  An  inscrutable  smile  came 
into  the  old  man's  face. 

"  Do  as  you  like,"  he  said ;  "  I  shall  not  betray 
you.  On  the  contrary,  I  will  give  you  Spanish 
money  for  your  English  money,  and  this — for  I 
see  you  have  no  weapon."  He  fumbled  about  in 
the  coach  and  produced  a  pistol,  singularly  small 
for  those  days.  "  This  looks  like  a  toy,  but  it  is 
not ;  it  was  made  and  given  me  as  a  curiosity." 

Archy  thanked  him  feelingly,  and  found  enough 
words  in  his  vocabulary  to  say  that  Don  Mig- 
uel's confidence  was  even  more  gratifying  to 
him  than  the  kindness  and  generosity  he  had 


THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION 


received.  And  sunset  saw  Don  Miguel  roll- 
ing along  alone  in  his  coach  into  Madrid,  while 
Archy,  duly  enrolled  as  a  member  of  Jose  Mon- 
za's  company  of  wonderful  acrobats,  was  trudg- 
ing along,  with  a  pack  on  his  back,  towards  the 
tent  in  the  fields  which  meant  home  to  all  of 
them. 


CHAPTER  XV 

BEHOLD  our  young  friend,  having  travelled 
from  the  southern  coast  almost  to  Madrid  with 
a  Spanish  general  of  the  highest  family,  now  pre- 
pared to  make  the  rest  of  his  journey  to  France 
as  a  member  of  a  company  of  mountebanks ! 

His  first  introduction  into  this  new  profes- 
sion was  anything  but  pleasant.  As  soon  as  they 
arrived  at  the  tent,  where  the  two  women,  Maria 
and  Julia,  were  cooking  supper,  Jose  opened  a 
chest  and  took  out  a  tawdry  and  dirty  costume, 
which  he  proposed  that  Archy  should  wear. 
Now  the  green  velvet  jacket,  the  brown  breeches 
with  silver  buttons,  and  the  yellow  gaiters  of  a 
peasant  had  gone  hard  with  Archy,  but  at  least 
they  were  clean,  and  this  acrobatic  costume  was 
not.  He  looked  at  it,  sniffed  at  it,  and  finally, 
in  a  volley  of  Spanish  and  French,  declared  he 
would  not  wear  it.  That  came  near  losing  him 
his  engagement.  Jose  swore  that  wear  it  he  must ; 
Archy  vowed  that  wear  it  he  wouldn't.  Maria, 
Jose's  wife,  solved  the  difficulty  by  saying : 


THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION  239 

"  See,  it  makes  no  difference  —  it  is  too  small 
for  him,  anyhow." 

Then  they  all  calmed  down,  and  ate  supper 
very  amicably  out  of  a  large  pannikin  of  some- 
thing or  other  which  tasted  violently  of  onions, 
leeks,  and  garlic. 

Next  morning  early  they  took  up  the  line  of 
march.  Among  Jose's  possessions  was  a  stout 
horse,  by  name  Bebe,  which  Jose  regarded  as  by 
far  the  most  important  member  of  the  company. 
When  hitched  to  the  rude  cart  which  transported 
their  belongings,  Archy  thought  there  was  still 
room  for  the  two  women ;  but,  to  his  surprise, 
Maria  and  Julia  toiled  along  contentedly,  each 
with  a  pack  on  her  back,  while  the  three  men 
carried  nothing.  Archy  had  nothing  to  carry 
except  his  shirts  and  his  two  books.  Natural- 
ly, he  was  very  much  disgusted  with  the  want  of 
chivalry  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  party,  and  of- 
fered to  help  both  of  the  ladies  with  their  bur- 
dens. But  they  scarcely  understood  what  he 
meant  by  his  offer,  and  laughed  at  him  for  it. 
They  showed  their  good -will  to  him,  though, 
by  proposing  to  wash  his  shirts  for  him,  which 
he  thankfully  accepted,  and  afterwards  astonish- 
ed them  very  much  by  the  frequency  with  which 
he  called  upon  them  for  this  service. 


230  THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

By  the  time  the  day's  march  was  over,  Archy 
found  that  he  had  fallen  in  with  a  very  hon- 
est set  of  people,  although  rude  and  unlettered. 
Next  day  they  reached  a  small  town,  and  gave 
their  first  performance  in  the  public  square.  The 
wire  was  stretched  for  the  tight-rope  walking, 
and  Jose  shrewdly  fastened  it  to  the  balcony 
of  a  tall  building  with  a  chimney,  not  unlike  the 
one  near  Madrid  where  Archy  had  first  appeared 
in  public.  Maria,  disguised  as  a  gypsy,  sat  in  the 
tent,  which  was  decorated  with  bunting,  and  told 
marvellous  fortunes  to  the  gaping  rustics  who 
were  credulous  enough  to  cross  her  hand  with 
silver.  Luis's  performance  on  the  trapeze  was 
considered  fine,  and  was  much  applauded ;  and 
when  he  got  through,  Jose,  as  general  director 
of  affairs,  advanced,  and,  ringing  a  huge  bell  to 
secure  silence,  began  an  oration  which  surprised 
Archy  as  much  as  anybody. 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  he  cried,  "  you  will 
now  see  a  marvellous  performance  by  Senor 
Archibaldisto  de  Baskervilliano,  a  distinguished 
Indian  gentleman  from  North  America.  Sefior 
Archibaldisto  was  once  a  sailor,  and  as  all  the 
vessels  in  his  country  have  masts  as  high  as  the 
Bpire  of  Seville  Cathedral,  it  is  nothing  for  him 
to  dance  the  bolero  on  the  top  of  yonder  chim- 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION"  231 

ney.  He  is  the  heir  to  immense  estates,  and  his 
father  is  a  grandee  of  the  first  class  in  North 
America.  But  having  been  stolen  in  his  youth, 
he  adopted  the  acrobatic  profession,  and  has 
performed  with  great  applause  before  all  the 
crowned  heads  of  North  America." 

Archy  bowed  modestly  in  response  to  the  tre- 
mendous applause  which  this  evoked,  and  began 
his  trapeze  performance. 

As  he  was  now  endeavoring  to  do  his  best,  and 
as  he  had  practised  in  the  last  day  or  two,  he  ac- 
quitted himself  to  the  delight  of  the  people,  and 
when  he  repeated  his  performance  of  shinning 
up  the  chimney,  although  he  could  not  dance  the 
bolero  on  top  of  it,  he  went  through  with  some 
gymnastic  performances  which  charmed  the 
crowd.  "When  their  afternoon's  work  was  over, 
and  Julia  handed  around  her  apron  for  contribu- 
tions, Jose  divided  the  money  with  perfect  hon- 
esty among  them,  and  Archy's  one-eighth  was 
somewhat  more  than  he  expected. 

As  Jose  had  promised,  they  pushed  on  rapidly, 
only  giving  performances  in  the  larger  villages 
and  towns.  Luis,  without  the  slightest  profes- 
sional jealousy,  taught  Archy  the  bolero,  and  he 
was  able  to  introduce  the  national  dance  of 
Spain  in  some  of  his  exhibitions.  He  also  taught 


232  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

Jose  many  things,  and  in  a  little  while  their 
joint  performance  so  charmed  Jose  that  he  began 
to  try  and  persuade  Archy  to  return  to  Madrid 
with  them,  and  was  quite  disgusted  when  Archy 
only  laughed  at  him. 

Archy  was  sometimes  surprised  at  his  own  hap- 
piness on  that  journey.  The  travel  was  fatigu- 
ing, the  fare  rough,  the  work  hard ;  but  it  was 
under  the  open  sky,  he  was  with  honest  people, 
and  he  was  travelling  towards  freedom.  He 
had  lost  all  fear  of  being  arrested  for  an  Eng- 
lishman, but,  as  it  turned  out,  that  danger  still 
remained,  and  eventually  came  near  to  cost  him 
dear. 

On  the  tenth  day  from  Madrid  they  reached 
Vitoria,  and  gave  a  performance  in  the  quaint 
old  town. 

Jose  made  his  harangue  concerning  Senor 
Archibaldisto,  dwelling  upon  the  fact  that  he 
was  a  sailor  by  profession.  The  crowd  was  made 
up,  as  usual,  of  villagers  and  peasants;  but 
Archy  observed  a  group  of  three  or  four  persons, 
one  in  the  dress  of  a  notary,  which  seemed  of  a 
better  class.  Archy  did  better  than  usual  even, 
the  crowd  applauded  vociferously,  and  Julia,  go- 
ing about  holding  her  apron  out,  soon  had  it 
heavy  with  copper  coins. 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

The  notary,  a  keen-eyed  fellow,  was  saying 
quietly  to  his  companions : 

"  This  Senor  Archibaldisto  is  an  impostor — that 
is,  he  is  a  gentleman.  Look  at  his  hands ;  they 
are  sunburned,  but  no  more  out  of  shape  with 
work  than  a  fine  lady's.  And  he  is  an  English- 
man. I  have  been  in  England  and  I  know  them. 
He  is  no  North  American ;  the  North  Americans 
are  Indians — black,  like  the  Moors.  Listen  to  his 
Spanish.  He  speaks  rapidly,  but  incorrectly,  and 
I  know  the  English  accent.  Depend  upon  it,  he 
is  an  English  spy — probably  from  Gibraltar." 

This  was  enough.  A  cry  went  up  from  the 
notary's  companions,  of  which  the  crowd  quick- 
ly caught  the  meaning,  and  then,  like  a  pack  of 
wolves,  they  howled : 

"  A  spy !  A  spy  from  Gibraltar !  An  English 
spy !  Garrote  him !  Let  him  be  garroted !" 

Archy  was  standing  on  the  ground  near  the 
open  door  of  the  tent  where  Maria  was  telling 
fortunes.  As  he  heard  this  ominous  cry  he 
turned  to  go  into  the  tent,  but  Josd  met  him  at 
the  door.  The  Spaniard's  face  was  black  with 
hate. 

"  You  are  an  English  spy !"  he  hissed. 

"  I  swear  to  you  I  am  not — I  swear  before 
God  that  I  am  not  a  spy !"  cried  Archy. 


234  THE   BOCK   OF  THE    LION 

Jose  barred  the  way  for  a  moment,  but  sud- 
denly Maria,  who  had  seemed  nothing  more  than 
a  beast  of  burden,  rose  and  pushed  him  out  of 
the  way. 

"  Come,"  she  said  to  Archy,  for  the  crowd  was 
now  closing  around  them  menacingly. 

Maria  spoke  to  Jose  in  a  clear,  high  voice, 
audible  over  the  enraged  murmurs  and  shouts 
and  cries  of  the  crowd : 

"  Do  you  call  yourself  a  Christian,  and  stand 
by  and  let  this  honest  boy  fall  into  the  hands  of 
these  blood-thirsty  people  ?  Jose  Monza,  I  am 
ashamed  that  you  are  my  husband !" 

Jose,  stunned  by  this  declaration  of  indepen- 
dence from  the  submissive  Maria,  could  do  noth- 
ing but  turn  his  head  from  side  to  side,  with  his 
mouth  gaping  wide  open. 

Maria,  albeit  her  wits  were  newly  found,  had 
them  all  about  her,  and  whispered  to  Archy  hur- 
riedly, as  she  dragged  him  in  the  tent  : 

"  While  I  am  talking  with  the  crowd  in  front, 
slit  the  tent  behind,  and  dash  through  the  crowd. 
There  is  a  church -yard  to  the  left  —  you  will 
know  the  spire  of  the  church  because  it  is  the 
only  white  one  in  sight — and  to-morrow  morn- 
ing before  daylight  we  will  come  to  the  church- 
yard." Then  she  advanced  to  the  tent  door,  and, 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  235 

shoving  Jose  out  of  the  way  as  if  he  were  a  bale 
of  goods,  began  an  animated  harangue  to  the 
people,  who  gathered  around  the  door  to  hear 
her,  but  interrupted  her  every  moment  with  de- 
mands for  the  English  spy. 

In  another  moment  Archy  had  cut  with  his 
pocket-knife  a  long  slit  in  the  tent,  had  sprung 
out,  and  was  flying  down  a  narrow  and  tortuous 
street.  Immediately  the  mob  was  in  full  cry  af- 
ter him,  but  all  at  once  he  seemed  to  sink  into 
the  ground  before  them.  He  had  caught  sight 
in  his  flight  of  an  open  trap-door  leading  into 
one  of  those  underground  shops  so  common  in 
Spanish  towns;  he  dropped  noiselessly  into  it, 
pulled  the  trap  down  with  him,  and  heard  hun- 
dreds of  feet  trampling  as  the  multitude  rushed 
on  in  pursuit  of  him. 

As  soon  as  his  eyes  became  accustomed  to  the 
darkness  he  saw  there  was  no  one  in  the  shop. 
There  was  another  room  behind  it,  which  opened 
into  a  garden.  Feeling  sure  that  the  proprietor 
would  be  back  in  a  very  short  time,  Archy  real- 
ized that  he  must  be  getting  away  very  shortly. 
He  slipped  through  the  back  room,  ran  up  some 
crazy  steps  into  the  garden,  and  to  his  delight 
he  saw  through  the  gathering  gloom  the  white 
spire  of  which  Maria  had  told  him. 


236  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

The  garden  door  was  locked,  but  the  key  hung 
on  a  nail  inside.  With  this  he  let  himself  softly 
out,  and  found  himself  in  a  narrow  passage  with 
garden-walls  on  one  side  and  the  back  windows 
of  houses  on  the  other.  It  was  quite  dark  in 
there,  and  he  sped  along  unseen  until  he  reach- 
ed the  end,  and  before  him  were  the  ivy-covered 
walls  of  the  church-yard.  It  was  but  a  moment's 
work  to  climb  over.  This  being  done,  he  hid 
himself  behind  a  huge  old  mausoleum  under 
a  grove  of  ilex -trees;  and  then  he  felt  safe. 
He  could  hear  the  cries  and  the  patter  of  feet 
dying  away  in  the  distance,  and  soon  all  was 
still ;  darkness  came  on  quickly  and  perfect  si- 
lence reigned,  broken  presently  by  the  mellow 
ringing  of  the  Angelus  bells.  Then  all  was 
quiet  again. 

Archy  was  cold  and  hungry,  but  he  did  not 
allow  this  to  disturb  him.  The  black  shadows 
cast  by  the  ilex -trees  made  him  quite  invisible 
under  their  low,  overhanging  branches,  and  he 
spent  the  whole  night  walking  up  and  down  to 
keep  warm.  As  the  first  gray  light  of  the  com- 
ing dawn  appeared  his  listening  ears  caught  the 
sound  of  some  one  creeping  outside  the  wall. 
He  quickly  clambered  over,  and  there  was  Maria 
with  a  huge  empty  basket,  which  she  put  on  his 


THE   BOCK    OF   THE   LION  237 

back,  and  together  they  trudged  rapidly  off  in 
the  direction  of  the  high-road. 

"  Remember,"  said  Maria,  "  if  we  are  stopped 
you  are  to  be  my  brother ;  you  are  too  old  to 
be  my  son,  and  too  young  to  be  my  husband." 

"I  think  it  an  honor  to  be  related  in  any 
way  to  so  good  a  woman  as  you,  Maria,"  gal- 
lantly replied  Archy. 

On  the  outskirts  of  the  town  they  found  the 
rest  of  the  party  with  the  cart  and  Bebe,  and  by 
hard  travelling  from  dawn  until  midnight  they 
reached  the  Bidassoa,  the  boundary  between 
France  and  Spain.  They  encamped  on  the  French 
side  of  the  river,  and  after  a  rest  of  a  whole  day 
and  night  they  set  out  for  St.-Jean-de-Luz. 

They  were  now  on  French  soil,  and  Archy's 
heart  bounded  with  joy  and  hope  and  grati- 
tude. At  St.-Jean-de-Luz  he  had  to  part  with 
his  humble  friends.  He  had  enough  money  to 
take  him  to  Paris,  travelling  economically,  and 
his  late  experiences  proved  to  him  that  his  own 
good  legs  would  enable  him  to  get  there  even  if 
his  money  gave  out.  Before  parting  they  gave 
two  grand  performances,  in  which  Archy  quite 
outshone  himself,  and  they  took  in  a  considerable 
sum  of  money.  With  his  share  Archy  bought 
some  little  memento  for  each  of  his  kind  friends. 


238  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

Jose  and  Maria  not  only  had  the  pain  of  parting 
with  Archy,  but  also  with  Bebe,  that  they  had 
determined  to  sell  for  about  twice  his  value. 
Their  only  consolation  was  that  they  had  sold 
him  to  one  of  the  woman  postilions,  common 
enough  in  those  days,  who  plied  between  St.- 
Jean-de-Luz  and  Bayonne,  and  Archy  was  to 
ride  Bebe  the  day's  journey  between  the  two 
places.  The  farewells  were  touching.  All  the 
men  kissed  Archy,  after  the  Spanish  fashion,  and 
he  kissed  Maria  and  Julia,  and  thanked  them 
from  the  bottom  of  his  heart — particularly  Maria, 
to  whom  he  felt  he  owed  his  life.  Maria  wept 
bitterly,  and  Archy  said  to  her,  with  the  greatest 
sincerity:  "Maria,  as  long  as  I  live,  whenever 
I  see  or  hear  of  a  good  woman  I  shall  think 
of  you."  At  last  he  was  started  on  his  journey. 
On  Bebe's  broad  back  was  one  of  those  queer 
double  saddles  which  were  then  used  in  the 
Basque  Provinces.  Archy  sat  on  one  side,  while 
on  the  other  was  perched  a  stout  Basque  wom- 
an, Teresa  by  name.  Being  a  sailor,  Archy  was 
perfectly  willing  to  ride  anything  in  any  manner, 
from  a  goat  to  an  elephant,  and  always  at  full 
speed.  Teresa  claimed  jurisdiction  over  the  horse, 
but  this  Archy  would  by  no  means  admit,  and 
just  as  they  were  passing  through  the  market- 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION  239 

place  he  gave  Bebe  a  smart  cut  with  a  knotted 
handkerchief,  and  the  next  thing  he  knew  he  was 
floundering  amid  the  ruins  of  a  wicker  chicken- 
coop,  the  frightened  fowls  clacking  and  flap- 
ping wildly,  while  a  dozen  market-women  were 
abusing  him  at  once  in  French  and  Spanish ;  and 
Teresa,  loud  above  all,  was  haranguing  him  on 
his  cruelty  to  poor  Bebe,  the  horse,  that  did  not 
seem  to  Archy  as  much  an  object  of  sympathy 
as  himself.  He  was  disentangled  from  the  coop 
and  the  fowls  by  two  handsome  Basque  girls, 
who,  however,  lost  all  favor  in  his  eyes  by 
laughing  at  him  openly.  Yery  sulky  and  dis- 
gusted, he  mounted  again,  and  Teresa  guided  the 
stout  Bebe  out  of  the  town  and  along  the  road 
to  Bayonne. 

Archy  counted  that  day  as  among  the  most 
unpleasant  of  his  life.  Teresa  alternated  with 
laughing  at  him  and  scolding  him.  In  a  rage 
he  dismounted  and  walked,  when  Teresa,  whip- 
ping Bebe  into  a  fast  trot,  caused  Archy  to  run 
after  her  frantically  for  fear  he  should  never 
see  either  Teresa  or  Bebe  again.  When  they 
reached  Bayonne  that  night  they  parted  with 
mutual  sentiments  of  disesteem. 

The  rest  of  his  journey  to  Paris  was  unevent- 
ful, and  on  a  February  evening  he  found  him- 


340  THE    BOOK   OF   THE   LION 

self  standing  at  the  door  of  the  large,  pleasant 
house,  set  in  an  ample  garden  at  Passy,  which  M. 
Kay  de  Chaumont  had  generously  given  to  the 
American  representatives.  Archy's  heart  beat 
rapturously.  He  scarcely  expected  to  meet  Paul 
Jones,  the  most  he  hoped  for  being  to  hear  that 
the  Commodore  was  somewhere  on  the  French 
coast.  But  just  as  he  raised  the  knocker  and 
gave  a  thundering  rat-tat-tat  the  door  opened, 
and  he  almost  walked  into  Paul  Jones's  arms. 

"  My  captain !"  cried  Archy. 

"  My  brave  little  midshipman !"  exclaimed  Paul 
Jones ;  and  they  embraced,  and  Archy  was  not 
ashamed  of  the  happy  tears  that  filled  his  eyes. 
And  then  Paul  Jones  held  him  off  at  arm's- 
length,  and  cried : 

"  How  you  are  grown !  And  how  handsome 
you  are !  And  what  adventures  have  you  had  ? 
And,  faith !  how  glad  I  am  to  see  you  again !" 

They  heard  a  clear  voice  behind  them  saying: 

"  This,  then,  is  the  lost  Pleiad  —  the  j^oung 
gentleman  who  was  picked  up  by  the  British 
at  the  Texel." 

It  was  Dr.  Franklin  who  spoke.  Archy  turned 
to  him  and  involuntarily  removed  his  hat — so 
noble,  so  venerable  was  this  august  man. 

"  Come,  Commodore,  you  do  not  want  to  go 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION  241 

now.  You  and  your  young  friend  must  remain 
to  sup  with  me,"  continued  Dr.  Franklin;  and 
Archy,  almost  abashed  by  the  honor  shown 
him,  proudly  and  delightedly  accepted. 

Never  could  Archy  Baskerville  forget  this  first 
evening  in  the  company  of  those  two  extraor- 
dinary men.  Dr.  Franklin's  dry  and  penetrating 
wit,  his  acute  reasoning,  would  have  impressed 
the  dullest  intelligence  ;  while  Paul  Jones,  whose 
schemes  were  great  and  far-reaching,  had  plans 
in  view  well  calculated  to  dazzle  an  ambitious 
young  mind  like  Archy  Baskerville's.  Nor  was  he 
entirely  silent.  He  felt,  of  course,  under  a  strict 
obligation  to  say  nothing  about  the  condition  of 
Gibraltar,  but  he  told  of  the  unyielding  courage 
of  the  garrison,  of  the  fortitude  of  the  women, 
and  of  the  many  noble  and  admirable  incidents 
that  had  occurred ;  he  actually  found  himself 
telling  the  story  of  throwing  the  peacock  down 
the  skylight  upon  the  Hanoverian  officers,  and 
the  old  Genoese  woman  being  blown  through 
the  window.  He  was  so  much  encouraged  by 
Dr.  Franklin's  laughter  and  Paul  Jones's  that 
he  told  of  his  journey  through  Spain,  his  career 
as  an  acrobat;  he  even  related  the  story  of  Teresa, 
the  double  saddle,  and  his  fall  into  the  chicken- 
coop,  and  some  of  his  other  adventures.  But 


242  THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION 

when  Paul  Jones  questioned  him  about  Lord 
Bellingham,  Archy  could  not  refrain,  in  the  boy- 
ish vanity  of  his  heart,  from  recounting  some  of 
the  various  duellos  at  wit  in  which  he  and  his 
grandfather  had  been  engaged — and  he  only  re- 
lated those  in  which  he  had  come  out  ahead,  like 
the  affair  about  his  American  uniform.  Paul 
Jones  shouted  with  laughter,  while  Dr.  Frank- 
lin quietly  chuckled.  At  last,  about  ten  o'clock, 
Paul  Jones  made  ready  to  return  to  Paris,  say- 
ing to  Archy : 

"You  must  share  my  lodgings,  Mr.  Basker- 
ville.  I  am  afraid  to  trust  so  adventurous  a 
young  gentleman  out  of  my  sight."  And  Archy 
delightedly  accepted. 

And  now  came  a  time  more  easy  and  brilliant 
in  some  respects,  and  more  harassing  and  anxious 
in  others,  than  Archy  had  ever  known.  He  lived 
with  Paul  Jones  in  his  Paris  lodgings,  and,  like 
him,  his  time  was  passed  between  anxious  jour- 
neys to  L' Orient,  to  find  new  difficulties  among 
the  Alliance  and  the  Ariel  and  their  crews,  and 
vexatious  and  annoying  transactions  with  the 
French  Minister  of  Marine. 

Paul  Jones  was  a  favorite  at  Versailles  and 
in  the  highest  society  in  Paris,  and  he  was  glad 
to  take  with  him  in  those  dazzling  palaces  a 


THE    KOCK   OF   THE   LION  243 

handsome  and  dashing  young  officer  like  Archy, 
who  now  wore  a  splendid  continental  naval  uni- 
form, and  who  enjoyed  the  glitter  and  splendor 
of  all  he  saw.  But,  like  Paul  Jones,  he  would 
have  hailed  with  joy  any  prospect  of  getting 
away  from  this  glittering  but  useless  life  into 
the  real  service  of  his  country. 

Of  course  the  subject  of  Archy's  exchange 
was  at  once  taken  up.  All  the  officers  of  his 
rank  captured  on  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  had 
been  already  exchanged,  so  that  he  had  before 
him  the  dreary  and  tedious  business  of  trying 
to  arrange  an  exchange  with  some  young  army 
officer  of  the  same  rank  in  America.  The  sum- 
mer came  and  waned,  as  did  the  autumn,  and 
no  headway  was  made  in  his  affair,  nor  in  the 
greater  affair  of  Paul  Jones  procuring  an  arm- 
ed ship,  which  was  continually  promised  but  nev- 
er forthcoming.  The  gloomy  prospects  of  the 
American  cause  at  that  time  made  it  daily  more 
unlikely  that  he  would  get  a  ship.  Paul  Jones's 
spirits  sank,  and  so  did  Archy's.  They  remained 
more  closely  at  their  lodgings,  and  the  scenes  of 
splendid  gayety  which  they  had  frequented  a 
few  months  before  saw  them  no  more.  Only  Dr. 
Franklin,  serene  and  majestic,  lost  neither  heart 
nor  hope. 


244  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

One  night  in  November,  1Y81,  Paul  Jones 
and  Archy  sat  together  in  their  lodgings,  which 
were  close  by  the  house  of  the  Minister  of  War. 
Never  had  they  felt  so  despairing  of  their  coun- 
try. They  knew  that  both  Sir  Henry  Clinton 
and  Lord  Cornwallis  had  been  reinforced  in 
America,  and  that  Rodney's  fleet  was  on  its 
way  there  to  strike  a  mortal  blow  to  the  fleet 
of  De  Grasse,  from  which  much  had  been  ex- 
pected and  nothing  had  come.  Besides  these 
sad  thoughts,  Archy's  heart  was  heavy  when  he 
thought  of  his  friends  at  Gibraltar.  Were  they 
still  living  and  starving?  Or  had  they  at  last 
found  rest  in  death  ? 

The  fire  burned  itself  out,  the  candles  flicker- 
ed in  their  sockets ;  midnight  came,  yet  neither 
made  any  move  towards  going  to  bed.  Archy 
felt  a  singular  restlessness  in  spite  of  his  mis- 
ery— he  felt  in  the  attitude  of  one  waiting  for 
something  to  happen.  At  last  it  came,  at  one 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  Far  up  the  stony  street 
they  heard  the  clatter  of  a  horse's  hoofs  going 
at  full  gallop. 

"  It  is  an  official  messenger.  He  is  stopping 
at  the  hotel  of  the  War  Minister,"  said  Archy, 
in  an  intense  whisper ;  and  the  next  minute  he 
tore  down  the  three  flights  of  stairs  of  the  tall 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  345 

house  in  which  they  lodged,  unfastened  a  win- 
dow in  the  entresol  and  jumped  out,  instead  of 
waiting  for  the  concierge  to  be  waked  up,  and 
found  himself  speeding  along  the  street,  and 
Paul  Jones,  neither  so  young  nor  so  active,  not 
far  behind  him. 

Windows  were  being  opened,  people  were  col- 
lecting hurriedly  on  the  streets,  and  a  little 
crowd  already  stood  around  the  steaming  horse 
from  which  the  messenger  had  just  alighted  and 
had  disappeared  within  the  doors.  In  an  upper 
window  on  the  first  floor  of  the  splendid  hotel 
a  light  quickly  appeared — the  War  Minister  was 
receiving  the  news.  The  crowd  below  waited, 
some  in  breathless  silence,  others  exclaiming  and 
gesticulating  in  their  excitement,  and  every  mo- 
ment the  people  increased  in  numbers.  Pres- 
ently the  window  was  flung  up,  and  the  War 
Minister,  with  a  white  nightcap  on  his  head  and 
a  dressing-gown  wrapped  round  him,  put  his 
head  out  and  raised  his  hand  for  silence.  In- 
stantly every  voice  was  hushed. 

"  Good  news — great  news — from  our  allies  in 
North  America!  On  the  19th  of  October,  at 
Yorktown,  in  Virginia,  Lord  Cornwallis,  with  all 
his  force — guns,  stores,  and  several  vessels — sur- 
rendered to  General  George  Washington,  in  com- 


246  THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION 

mand  of  the  joint  forces  of  America  and  France. 
Vive  VAmerique  /" 

Before  the  crowd  could  shout,  a  sudden,  wild 
cry  of  joy  went  up  from  a  young  man  and  an 
older  one  who  stood  together,  clasping  each 
other,  with  tears  running  down  their  faces.  The 
French  might  cheer  and  huzza  in  their  triumph, 
as  they  did,  waking  up  the  entire  quarter  of 
Paris,  and  causing  an  outpouring  of  the  whole 
population,  but  the  patriotic  joy  of  Paul  Jones 
and  Archy  Baskerville  was  too  deep  for  words. 
Theirs  was  a  passionate  thanksgiving  which  could 
only  be  expressed  by  Paul  Jones  as,  uncovering 
his  head,  he  said,  reverently : 

"  Let  us  bless  the  good  God  for  his  mercies  to 
our  dear  country  1" 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  was  admit- 
ted to  be  the  practical  end  of  the  war.  The  Eng- 
lish people,  as  a  mass,  rose  up  and  declared  that 
the  strife  must  end.  Parliament,  it  was  known, 
would  not  vote  another  shilling  for  soldiers  or 
ships  for  America.  The  Ministers  gave  up  in 
despair,  and  even  George  III.,  the  most  obstinate 
king  of  which  history  makes  any  record,  saw  that 
he  must  yield. 

The  attitude  of  the  English  people  and  Par- 
liament was  known  in  Paris  by  the  middle  of 
December,  and  at  once  ended  the  projects  for 
the  fitting-out  of  hostile  ships  for  America,  and 
likewise  for  the  exchange  of  the  few  American 
officers  in  Europe  who  were  on  parole.  With 
the  end  of  the  long  and  obstinate  conflict  in  view, 
they  had  to  exercise  a  little  more  patience  and 
wait  for  the  formal  preliminaries  of  peace  in  or- 
der to  be  unconditionally  released. 

One  of  the  first  letters  that  Archy  received 
after  the  great  news  from  America  was  from 
his  uncle,  Colonel  Baskerville.  It  said : 


248  THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION 

"There  is  no  longer  any  question  of  a  renewal  of  hostili- 
ties. I  have  it  on  authority  that  the  Government  is  consid- 
ering an  armistice  and  the  appointment  of  plenipotentiaries 
of  peace,  and  the  only  delay  in  the  way  is  that  the  Colonies 
cannot  make  peace  without  France,  nor  can  Prance  make 
peace  without  Spain  and  Holland — and  Spain  means  to 
make  one  last  desperate  effort  to  regain  Gibraltar.  But  I 
will  leave  it  to  your  friends,  Dr.  Franklin  and  Commodore 
Jones,  whether  there  is  any  chance  of  active  employment  for 
you,  and  if  there  is  not,  I  beg  that  you  will  come  to  Eng- 
land under  a  safe -conduct  to  see  your  grandfather.  You 
have  no  relatives  iu  America,  and  nothing  can  be  arranged 
concerning  your  future  until  peace  is  declared  and  the  navy 
of  the  Colonies  is  reorganized,  or  rather  established,  for  they 
have  nothing  which  can  be  called  a  navy  at  present.  I  un- 
derstand that  the  arming  and  equipping  of  such  few  vessels 
as  the  Colonies  can  get  together  is  now  totally  abandoned. 
Meanwhile  your  grandfather  is  extremely  desirous  to  see 
you  for  a  very  special  purpose.  He  is  an  old  man,  and  may 
not  long  survive;  and  if  you  once  cross  the  ocean,  there  is 
but  little  likelihood  of  your  return  during  his  remnant  of 
life.  Therefore,  if  your  friends,  who  are  older  and  more  ex- 
perienced than  you,  think  that  you  can  come  with  honor, 
pray  do  so.  Your  safe-conduct  will  enable  you  to  return  at 
any  time  to  either  France  or  America.  You  will  certainly 
not  be  called  upon  to  fight  any  more,  and  the  emergency  of 
the  case  justifies  me  in  urging  you  to  come." 

Archy  showed  this  letter  to  Paul  Jones  and  to 
Dr.  Franklin,  and,  after  both  had  considered  it, 
they  advised  him  to  go. 

"  My  impression  is,  Mr.  Baskerville,"  said  Dr. 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  249 

Franklin,  "  that  Lora  Bellingham  wishes  to  make 
some  arrangement  about  his  estates;  and  al- 
though you  are  under  age,  and  have  no  guardian 
— and  you  say  that  your  father  united  with 
your  grandfather  in  cutting  the  entail — yet  he 
may  want  to  make  you  some  amends,  and  I  rec- 
ommend you  to  accept  the  safe-conduct  and  go." 

Paul  Jones,  with  whom  Archy  had  lived  for 
many  months,  talked  with  him  long  and  confi- 
dentially, and  his  advice  was  of  the  same  tenor 
as  Dr.  Franklin's. 

"  Nothing  will  be  easier,"  he  said,  "  than  for 
me  to  arrange  with  the  Minister  of  Marine  to 
notify  you  if,  by  any  chance,  there  should  be  a 
resumption  of  hostilities;  and  meanwhile  you 
will  be  better  off  with  your  own  relatives,  espe- 
cially such  a  man  as  you  represent  Colonel  Bask- 
erville  to  be,  than  alone  in  Paris,  for  I  may  leave 
for  America  any  day.  And  you  know  very  well, 
my  dear  Archy,  that  both  our  purses  are  low, 
and  are  likely  to  remain  so  until  the  Son  Homme 
Richard's  prize-money  is  paid  over,  and  Heaven 
knows  when  that  will  be.  I  have  great  confi- 
dence in  you,  but  for  a  young  man  to  be  alone 
and  living  by  his  wits  in  a  city  like  Paris  would 
test  the  integrity  of  the  finest  young  man  in  the 
world.  True,  Dr.  Franklin  remains;  but  he  is 


250  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

often  in  straits  for  money,  and  you  could  scarce- 
ly expect  him,  with  his  vast  cares,  to  take  upon 
himself  the  charge  of  confidential  friend,  adviser, 
and  banker  of  a  young  man  like  yourself.  So,  I 
say,  go  to  Bellingham  Castle,  and  if  your  grand- 
father will  do  the  handsome  thing  by  you,  so  much 
the  better.  I  have  not  the  slightest  fear  that  you 
can  be  beguiled  from  your  allegiance  to  your 
country  by  any  blandishments  Lord  Bellingham 
can  offer." 

"  That  I  cannot !"  cried  Archy,  with  energy ; 
"and  I  will  show  him  I  cannot." 

Nevertheless,  it  was  not  with  gayety  of  heart 
that  Archy  prepared  to  take  his  friend's  advice. 
He  almost  wept  when  he  bade  farewell  to  Paul 
Jones  on  the  morning  that  he  took  the  diligence 
for  Calais,  and  was  rather  hurt  by  his  old  com- 
mander's laughing  air  and  gay  manner  at  the 
moment  of  parting,  until  Paul  Jones  said : 

"  Perhaps  I  may  see  you  in  England  myself. 
True,  I  believe  there  is  a  standing  offer  of  ten 
thousand  guineas  for  me,  dead  or  alive ;  but  did 
not  Captain  Cunningham,  who  also  had  a  price 
upon  him,  take  his  vessel  into  an  English  port 
and  refit  ?  And  I  have  had  a  fancy  to  see  Eng- 
land ever  since  I  was  honored  with  so  high  a 
price  upon  my  head." 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  251 

A  light  broke  in  upon  Archy's  mind. 

"  I  see !  I  see !"  he  cried.  '« Yery  well ;  all  I 
can  say  is  that  if  the  people  molest  you  there 
is  Admiral  Digby,  at  the  Admiralty,  who  will 
defend  you." 

"  But  the  people  will  not  know  that  I  am  Paul 
Jones,"  significantly  replied  the  Commodore.  "  I 
grant  you,  if  I  went  in  my  proper  character  I 
should  see  only  the  inside  of  Newgate  Prison ; 
and  as  I  wish  a  more  extended  view,  I  would 
do  better  not  to  tell  my  name  and  adventures. 
I  say  this  to  you :  we  shall  meet  again  in  Eng- 
land." 

This  started  Archy  off  in  high  spirits,  and  he 
already  began  to  plan  concealing  Paul  Jones  at 
Bellingham  Castle.  His  cheerfulness  lasted  until 
he  began  to  think  of  his  "  enemies  "  at  Gibraltar. 
Were  they  still  alive?  There  was  no  news  from 
the  Eock  except  that  it  still  held  out  stubbornly, 
and  that  before  Spain  was  forced  by  her  allies 
to  sign  a  peace  she  meant  to  make  one  last  des- 
perate and  unprecedented  effort  to  regain  that 
mighty  fortress. 

However,  nothing  could  damp  his  happiness  at 
the  splendid  prospects  of  his  country,  and,  elated 
with  the  idea,  he  easily  persuaded  himself  that 
everything  concerning  everybody  he  loved  would 


252  THE   ROCK   OF  THE    LION 

come  right.  This  happy  conviction,  which  was 
partly  justified  by  circumstances  and  partly  ac- 
counted for  by  youth  and  health  and  motion 
along  a  fine  high-road  on  a  bright  morning,  in- 
spired him  to  raise  his  voice  in  song ;  but  as  he 
sang  very  badly,  and  the  guard  laughed  at  him, 
he  concluded  to  try  some  other  form  of  amuse- 
ment. 

He  had  the  box-seat,  and  having  a  little  gold 
still  left  in  his  belt  he  slyly  insinuated  a  piece 
into  the  hand  of  the  coachman,  who,  in  return, 
passed  him  over  the  reins.  But  a  few  jolts  and 
bumps,  a  growl  from  the  postilion,  and  a  sharp 
volley  from  the  guard,  together  with  a  chorus 
of  shrieks  from  several  nervous  old  ladies  inside, 
caused  the  coachman  to  resume  his  job  hurriedly, 
much  to  Archy's  chagrin.  This  was  but  a  tem- 
porary damper,  and  he  proved  a  very  lively  com- 
panion all  the  way  to  Calais. 

They  arrived  in  the  afternoon,  just  at  the 
turn  of  the  tide,  and  with  a  favorable  wind  for 
the  Channel  Islands,  where  Archy  meant  to  go. 
There  was  a  guardship,  he  knew,  stationed  off 
the  island  of  Jersey,  and  if  he  could  get  to  her 
he  knew  there  was  constant  communication  with 
Spithead. 

As  soon  as  he  got  to  Calais  he  at  once  reported 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION  253 

to  the  authorities,  who,  on  the  strength  of  his 
safe-conduct,  directed  him  where  to  find  a  boat- 
man. He  soon  found  one  with  a  tolerably  large 
boat,  who  agreed  to  take  him  for  a  moderate  sum 
to  the  British  guardship.  The  boatman  was  as 
anxious  not  to  lose  the  wind  as  Archy,  so  in  an 
incredibly  short  time  they  were  off,  and  before 
midnight,  by  the  light  of  a  brilliant  moon,  they 
made  the  island  of  Jersey.  As  they  sighted 
the  guardship  they  hoisted  for  a  flag  of  truce 
a  sheet  which  Archy  had  bought  at  a  Calais 
tavern.  They  were  suffered  to  come  along- 
side— a  small  sailboat  with  two  men  not  being 
alarming. 

Archy  handed  up  his  credentials  in  a  small  bag 
tied  to  an  oar,  and  after  they  had  been  sent  to 
the  captain  for  inspection,  and  returned  as  being 
all  right,  he  was  asked  to  come  aboard. 

In  a  few  minutes  he  was  on  the  deck  of  the 
guardship,  and  the  little  boat  had  tacked  for 
France.  The  reception  he  met  with  from  the 
officer  of  the  deck,  and  subsequently  the  cap- 
tain, was  rather  chilling.  The  British  people,  as 
a  whole,  had  opposed  the  war,  but  there  were 
many  persons,  especially  in  the  army  and  navy, 
who  regarded  the  Americans  still  as  traitors. 
Archy's  first  question  was  well  meant,  but  un- 


254  THE   BOOK   OF   THE    LION 

fortunate.  He  eagerly  inquired  of  the  captain 
if  there  was  any  news  of  Gibraltar. 

"  News  of  its  fall,  I  presume  you  mean,"  was 
the  captain's  brusque  reply.  "  No,  sir,  there  is 
no  news  of  that — and  will  not  be.  The  enemies 
of  England  need  not  expect  those  gallant  men 
to  yield.  Gibraltar  will  remain  ours." 

Archy  had  so  long  been  accustomed  to  regard 
Gibraltar  as  the  abode  of  his  friends  that  he  was 
a  little  staggered  for  a  moment,  but  recovering 
himself,  he  said,  with  dignity : 

"  Sir,  I  was  a  prisoner  at  Gibraltar  for  nearly 
a  year,  and  I  was  so  kindly  treated  by  the  brave 
garrison  that,  although  they  were  the  enemies 
of  my  country,  I  could  not  but  consider  them  as 
personal  friends,  and  my  question  was  inspired 
by  the  most  sincere  solicitude  for  them." 

Even  this  did  not  melt  the  captain's  icy  man- 
ner, and  his  next  words  were  an  offer  to  let 
Archy  sail  next  morning  in  a  tender  that  was 
to  carry  despatches  to  Spithead.  The  invitation 
was  given  so  like  an  order  to  kick  him  off  the 
ship  that  Archy  promptly  accepted  it — and  as 
promptly  declined  a  rather  cool  invitation  to 
accept  a  berth.  He  returned  to  the  deck,  and 
selecting  a  sheltered  corner  under  one  of  the 
boats,  wrapped  himself  in  his  cloak,  used  his 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  255 

portmanteau  for  a  pillow,  and  in  a  little  while 
was  sleeping  the  sleep  of  the  just,  the  young,  and 
the  healthy.  At  daylight  he  was  aboard  the 
tender.  It  was  a  mild  January  morning,  and  the 
good  breeze  of  the  night  before  still  held.  When 
they  came  within  sight  of  the  splendid  British 
fleet  in  The  Downs,  Archy  could  not  repress  a 
sensation  of  envy.  Could  but  his  country  have 
the  half  of  such  a  fleet ! 

The  journey  from  Spithead  to  Yorkshire  was 
not  very  pleasant.  Archy,  like  most  hot-headed 
young  persons,  was  fond  of  airing  his  opinions 
and  proclaiming  his  beliefs  in  season  and  out; 
and,  armed  with  his  safe-conduct,  he  enjoyed  an 
immunity  that  he  had  never  known  before.  He 
swaggered  on  his  way,  announcing  with  vast 
pride  and  belligerence  that  he  was  an  American ; 
he  inquired  for  news  concerning  the  surrender 
of  Cornwallis  wherever  he  judged  it  would  be 
most  annoying;  he  entertained  sulky  English 
travellers  with  accounts  of  the  fight  between  the 
Serapis  and  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  whenever 
he  had  the  chance;  and  when  he  did  all  this 
without  getting  a  broken  head  he  rashly  con- 
cluded that  it  was  due  to  his  own  superior  wis- 
dom ;  and,  in  short,  conducted  himself  in  such  a 
manner  that  in  after-life  he  often  bitterly  re- 


256  THE   BOOK    OF   THE    LION 

gretted  that  he  had  not  been  well  thrashed  for 
his  behavior.  Being  naturally  good-tempered, 
he  was  much  surprised  when  people  took  offence 
at  remarks  that  amused  him  but  were  exasper- 
ating to  others,  and  he  always  assumed  the  air 
of  a  much  injured  person  when  called  to  account 
for  his  impertinence. 

He  travelled  over  the  same  road  from  London 
to  Bellingham  Castle  that  he  had  taken  more 
than  two  years  before,  and  he  really  began  to 
look  forward  with  pleasure  to  seeing  his  grand- 
father again  —  so  strong  is  the  tie  of  blood 
when  once  acknowledged.  Colonel  Baskerville 
he  thought  of  with  the  greatest  affection ;  and 
when,  at  the  same  hour  of  the  evening  that  he 
had  first  arrived  at  the  village,  the  coach  rolled 
in  and  he  saw  his  uncle  waiting  for  him  at  the 
door  of  the  inn  and  posting-house,  Archy's  heart 
beat  with  joy,  and,  jumping  down,  he  seized  the 
staid  Colonel  in  an  embrace  that  very  much  sur- 
prised and  startled  him.  And  his  very  first  re- 
mark, after  asking  affectionately  of  his  uncle's 
health,  was  to  proclaim,  with  an  air  of  triumph : 

"  And,  nunky,  what  do  you  say  to  General 
George  Washington  now?" 

"I  say  that  he  is  a  very  remarkable  man," 
good-naturedly  replied  Colonel  Baskerville ;  "  but 


THE   KOCK   QF   THE   LION  257 

from  your  tone  and  manner  of  confidence  and 
arrogance  I  imagine  that  you  yourself  contrib- 
uted largely  towards  the  result  of  Lord  Corn- 
wallis's  surrender"  —  which  almost  brought  a 
blush  to  Archy's  sunburned  cheek. 

Lord  Bellingham  had  sent  the  coach  to  meet 
Archy,  much  to  his  amusement,  as  well  as  Colo- 
nel Baskerville's,  and  as  they  were  bumping 
along  the  road  through  the  park  the  Colonel 
said,  smiling : 

"  Grandsons  are  all  the  rage  now.  Lord  Bell- 
ingham has  actually  condescended  to  admit  that 
he  had  a  grandson  in  the  continental  navy,  but 
he  continues  to  speak  of  your  commission  as  if 
your  holding  it  were  a  mere  boyish  escapade." 

"  He  does,  does  he  ?  Poor  grandfather !  He 
will  know  better  before  he  is  much  older." 

"  I  will  say  to  you,  frankly,  that  Lord  Belling- 
ham mortally  hates  the  idea  of  the  title  lapsing ; 
and  if  you  will  agree  to  accept  it,  and  to  cease 
to  be  an  American,  no  doubt  your  grandfather 
will  make  you  his  heir.  But  if  you  stick  to  your 
country,  as  you  call  it,  I  am  equally  sure  that 
Trevor  Langton  will  be  the  heir — that  is,  if  he 
is  alive,  for  the  latest  reports  from  Gibraltar 
show  that  although  the  loss  of  life  from  the 
bombardment  is  small,  there  is  an  epidemic  of 


258  THE    ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

fever  and  scurvy,  and,  naturally,  we  are  all 
anxious  about  Trevor  Langton.  It  is  piteous  to 
see  his  poor  mother." 

Archy  remained  silent,  distressed  by  what  he 
had  just  heard,  and  Colonel  Baskerville  con- 
tinued : 

"  Langton's  mother,  my  niece,  is  now  staying 
at  Bellingham — the  first  time  her  father  has  rec- 
ognized her  since  her  marriage.  Her  two  daugh- 
ters are  with  her — Mary  and  Isabel — fine,  hand- 
some girls  they  are." 

"  If  they  are  anything  like  Trevor  they  must 
be  everything  they  ought  to  be,  for  he  is  the 
finest  fellow:  so  brave,  so  gentle,  so  quiet— so 
unlike  me." 

Colonel  Baskerville  smiled  again  at  this,  while 
Archy  went  on  to  explain  that  he  and  Langton 
knew  the  status  of  affairs  perfectly  well.  "  When 
we  were  in  the  hut  at  Gibraltar  we  often  talked  it 
over,  but  it  never  made  the  least  difference  be- 
tween us.  I  am  an  American,  and  shall  remain 
so,  and  Trevor  will  get  the  money ;  but  I'll  never 
want  for  it  while  he  lives,  and  you  know  I  have 
enough  to  keep  me  in  clothes  and  food,  candles 
and  fuel,  anyhow." 

Presently  they  rattled  up  to  the  great  pile 
of  Bellingham  Castle.  But  how  different  was 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  259 

Archy's  reception  from  his  first  visit !  Lord  Bell- 
ingham  had  developed  a  whim,  or  possibly  some- 
thing better,  of  liberality  and  large-heartedness, 
and  it  had  impelled  him  to  open  his  house,  send 
for  his  daughter  and  her  children,  and  receive 
Archy  in  a  manner  calculated  to  please  a  much 
older  and  better-balanced  person.  Lord  Belling- 
ham,  with  all  his  faults  and  freaks,  was  not 
without  feeling.  Archy's  spirit,  intelligence,  and 
strong  personal  resemblance  to  Lord  Bellingham 
in  his  youth  had  softened  the  old  man's  heart. 
He  felt  a  natural  desire  that  the  title  should  re- 
main in  his  family,  which  could  only  be  done  by 
Archy's  accepting  it.  At  first  he  had  regarded 
his  grandson's  unwillingness  to  give  up  his  cit- 
izenship in  his  own  country  as  a  mere  boyish 
impulse;  but  he  had  become  convinced  that  it 
would  take  all  his  powers  of  persuasion,  and  all 
that  could  dazzle  a  young  and  impressionable 
mind,  to  induce  the  boy  to  become  a  subject  of 
a  king  who  was  so  well  hated  by  Americans. 
Nothing,  however,  was  to  be  lacking  in  the  way 
of  subtle  flattery,  and  for  that  reason  Archy's  re- 
ception was  imposing.  The  great  hall  doors  were 
flung  wide  open  as  soon  as  the  coach  drew  up ; 
an  army  of  servants  in  livery  were  drawn  up 
on  each  side  of  the  entrance,  the  men  on  one 


THE   ROCK   OF    THE    LION 


side,  the  maids  on  the  other,  and  Lord  Belling- 
ham,  elegantly  dressed,  as  usual,  and  looking  like 
a  prince — and,  what  was  more,  like  a  prince  in 
a  good-humor — greeted  Archy  with  stately  cor- 
diality. 

"  My  grandson  !  Welcome  to  Bellingham." 
A  man  quite  as  fastidious  as  Lord  Bellingham 
might  have  felt  pride  and  pleasure  in  the  beauti- 
ful young  man  before  him.  Archy's  figure  had 
filled  out,  his  handsome  features  had  not  lost 
their  natural,  joyous  expression;  but  instead  of 
his  boyish  confidence  he  had  gained  a  manly 
self-possession,  and  the  likeness  to  his  grand- 
father in  every  respect  had  become  simply  as- 
tounding. In  Archy  Lord  Bellingham  saw  him- 
self in  the  brightness  and  the  glory  of  his  youth, 
and  it  did  not  make  his  heart  less  tender  tow- 
ards this  handsome  grandson. 

Archy  greeted  him  affectionately,  and  then 
came  forward  Mrs.  Langton,  who  was  just  what 
Archy  thought  Trevor  Langton's  mother  should 
be,  and  who  met  him  and  kissed  him  with  all 
the  affection  of  a  mother.  Mary  and  Isabel 
were  two  tall,  handsome  young  girls,  the  most 
self-possessed  creatures  that  Archy  had  ever 
seen,  who,  instead  of  dropping  their  eyes  and 
curtseys  at  the  same  time,  looked  him  full  in 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  261 

the  face  with  laughing  glances,  and  were  not 
nearly  so  ready  to  take  him  on  trust  as  their 
gentle  mother. 

Archy's  first  eager  words  on  greeting  her 
were  :  "  Have  you  heard  anything  of  LangtonT 
Mrs.  Langton's  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

"  Not  one  word  direct  for  nearly  two  years.  I 
know  from  your  letters  to  my  father  and  uncle 
much  that  happened  at  Gibraltar  while  you  were 
with  him,  but  the  last  word  I  had  from  my  son 
was  when  Admiral  Rodney's  fleet  left  Gibraltar 
in  the  March  of  '80." 

Archy's  heart  went  out  to  his  aunt,  as  it  had 
done  to  Mrs.  Curtis,  and  always  did  when  sweet 
and  motherly  women  were  kind  to  him.  But  his 
heart  did  not  go  out  to  his  cousins,  Mary  and 
Isabel.  They  looked  at  him  loftily ;  they  seemed 
disposed  to  treat  him  as  a  bandit  and  an  insur- 
gent, and  evidently  regarded  his  connection  with 
their  brother  as  his  only  title  to  consideration; 
in  short,  they  were  a  good  deal  like  Archy  him- 
self, and  for  that  reason  they  did  not  affiliate 
very  promptly. 

As  Archy  looked  around  him  after  the  first 
greeting,  he  could  scarcely  believe  it  the  same 
place  that  he  had  known  two  years  before.  In- 
stead of  a  simple  dinner  served  in  the  little  din- 


262  THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

ing-parlor  for  Colonel  Baskerville  and  himself, 
the  great  dining-hall  was  thrown  open,  and  a 
splendid  dinner  was  served  to  the  family  party 
of  six  —  Lord  Bellingham  leading  his  daughter 
out  on  his  arm,  with  his  antique  courtesy.  The 
younger,  prettier,  and  saucier  of  his  cousins, 
Isabel  Langton,  fell  to  Archy's  share. 

"  Dear  me,"  remarked  Isabel,  looking  critical- 
ly at  Archy  when  they  were  seated  at  the  table, 
"  I  had  no  idea  you  were  so  old." 

"Nineteen  is  not  old,  my  dear,"  responded 
Archy,  in  a  tone  as  if  he  were  addressing  Dolly 
Curtis,  who  was  ten. 

"  Isabel !"  said  her  mother,  in  a  warning 
voice. 

"Let  them  alone,  ma'am,"  remarked  Lord  Bell- 
ingham. "  I  think  my  grandson  can  take  care 
of  himself." 

Mary,  seated  on  Archy's  other  side,  now  came 
to  her  sister's  rescue,  while  Colonel  Baskerville, 
with  a  grin,  prepared  to  enjoy  seeing  the  young 
ones  having  it  out,  hammer  and  tongs. 

"My  sister  is  not  accustomed  to  such  famili- 
arity as  '  my  dear '  from  strangers,  even  if  you 
are  a  cousin,"  she  severely  remarked. 

"  Mary !"  was  Mrs.  Langton's  next  protest. 

"  Isn't  she  ?"  said  Archy.    "  I  beg  a  thousand 


THE   BOOK   OF  THE   LION  263 

pardons.  The  last  little  girl  I  had  much  to  do 
with  was  a  darling  of  ten  years  old — Dolly  Curtis 
— and  I  used  to  ride  her  on  my  shoulder  and  steal 
apples  for  her  from  the  stores ;  and  I  thought, 
perhaps,  you  and  your  sister — but  never  mind." 

Isabel  and  Mary  took  refuge  in  silent  indig- 
nation, exchanging  wrathful  glances ;  Mrs.  Lang- 
ton  looked  distressed,  Colonel  Baskerville  high- 
ly amused,  and  Lord  Bellingham's  handsome  old 
face  was  quite  impassive.  Archy,  as  if  to  show 
that  Isabel  and  Mary  were  quite  too  childish  to 
have  any  claim  upon  the  attention  of  a  young 
man  of  nineteen,  then  turned  to  his  grandfather 
and  said,  airily : 

"  By-the-way,  sir,  the  conduct  of  Captain  Cur- 
tis at  Gibraltar  is  second  only  to  that  of  General 
Eliot,  and  we  Americans  congratulate  ourselves 
that  these  two  officers  were  not  in  Virginia  with 
Lord  Cornwallis.  It  might  have  delayed  the  sur- 
render considerably." 

An  electric  shock  ran  round  the  table  at  that. 
The  old  butler  quietly  removed  a  decanter  that 
was  handy  at  Lord  Bellingham's  elbow,  and  Mrs. 
Langton  looked  ready  to  faint.  But,  to  every- 
body's amazement,  after  a  moment's  pause,  Lord 
Bellingham  suddenly  smiled ;  his  laugh  was  quite 
silent  in  contrast  to  the  happy  ripple  that  had 


264  THE   KOCK    OF   THE   LION 

been  his  throughout  youth,  and  which  he  had 
lost  during  a  long  course  of  selfishness  and  bad 
temper. 

Then  Colonel  Baskerville  shouted,  and  Mrs. 
Langton  smiled,  and  Archy,  with  a  fine  assump- 
tion of  addressing  two  very  small  children,  re- 
marked to  Mary  and  Isabel : 

"  Haven't  you  heard  the  news,  my  dears  ?  Lord 
Cornwallis,  on  the  19th  day  of  last  October, 
surrendered  his  whole  force  to  General  George 
Washington.  Didn't  know  it,  eh  ?  It's  a  shame 
that  you  are  kept  so  cooped  up  in  the  nursery 
that  you  never  know  what  is  going  on  in  the 
world";  and  then  even  the  two  girls  laughed 
while  they  scowled. 

The  dinner  was  very  jolly  after  that.  The  girls 
continued  to  snap  at  Archy,  and  he  gave  it  them 
back  in  his  best  style ;  but  it  was  good-natured 
snapping,  and  it  so  amused  Lord  Bellingham  and 
Colonel  Baskerville  that  Mrs.  Langton  not  only 
permitted  the  girls  to  defend  themselves,  but  she 
even  smiled  faintly  at  the  scrimmage.  Never- 
theless, when  Archy  and  Colonel  Baskerville 
were  parting  for  the  night,  Archy  said,  in  a 
grave  manner: 

"  I  can  hardly  believe,  uncle,  that  those  pert 
misses  are  Langton's  sisters.  They  need  to  be 


THE    ROCK    OF    THE    LION  265 

sent  to  a  good  stiff  boarding-school  to  bring 
them  down  a  peg  or  two." 

"  They  are  as  much  like  you  as  girls  can  be 
like  a  boy,"  was  the  Colonel's  cool  rejoinder, 
"  and  that  is  why  you  do  not  fancy  them." 


CHAPTER  XV  H 

LORD  BELLINGHAM  soon  began  the  systematic 
effort  to  induce  Archy  to  give  up  his  country 
for  which  he  had,  in  truth,  been  sent  for  from 
France.  But  everything  united  to  make  against 
his  scheme.  While  the  time  never  had  been  that 
Archy  would  have  abandoned  his  country  and 
her  cause,  he  was  still  less  likely  to  do  so  in  the 
hour  of  her  triumph,  when  the  English  people 
had  forced  the  King  and  his  Ministry  to  aban- 
don a  fratricidal  war.  And  the  association  for 
many  months  with  two  such  men  as  Paul  Jones 
and  Dr.  Franklin  was  not  calculated  to  make 
any  young  and  impressionable  mind  less  Amer- 
ican in  its  belief  and  sympathies.  Kor  was  the 
splendid  bait  offered  by  Lord  Bellingham  half 
as  attractive  to  Archy  as  it  would  have  been  to 
a  young  man  of  less  adventurous  life  and  habits. 
Full  of  an  enthusiastic  democracy,  he  rated  the 
title  as  nothing  at  all ;  and  as  for  the  estates,  it 
may  be  said  to  the  honor  of  humanity  that  money 
has  but  little  weight  with  a  manly  and  generous 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION  367 

nature  in  the  freshness  of  youth.  Archy  really 
would  have  liked  to  own  Bellinghara  Castle  if 
he  could  have  transported  it  to  America,  but  he 
would  cheerfully  have  given  all  the  mediaeval 
castles  in  England  for  one  good  ship  of  the  line, 
and  would  have  thrown  in  Westminster  Abbey  as 
a  makeweight.  And  because  little  things  as  well 
as  great  things  influence  people.  Lord  Belling- 
ham  could  not  have  devised  a  better  way  to  de- 
feat his  own  object  than  in  bringing  Archy  in 
contact  with  his  two  cousins,  Isabel  and  Mary. 
These  two  high-spirited  young  ladies  were  as 
determinedly  English  as  Archy  was  aggressively 
American,  and  the  result  was  warfare,  in  which 
quarter  was  neither  asked  nor  given.  Not  one  of 
the  three  was  bad-tempered,  so  that,  in  spite  of 
their  continual  bickerings,  there  was  an  odd  sort 
of  sympathy  among  them,  the  sympathy  which 
comes  from  a  community  of  tastes  and  amuse- 
ments, which  made  them  seek  each  other's  so- 
ciety, apparently  for  the  purpose  of  expressing 
their  disesteem  for  each  other's  opinions — Mary 
and  Isabel  on  the  one  side,  and  Archy  on  the 
other;  Mrs.  Langton  vainly  striving  for  peace, 
Colonel  Baskerville  an  impartial  umpire,  and 
Lord  Bellingham  secretly  diverted  at  the  cut- 
and-come-again  style  in  which  his  grandchildren 


268  THE   BOOK   OF   THE   LION 

disputed.  But  he  grew  grave  one  day  when  he 
came  upon  them  engaged  in  an  exciting  discus- 
sion on  the  issues  of  the  war  in  America,  which 
Isabel  ended  by  saying,  loftily  : 

"  At  all  events,  we  sha'n't  be  mortified  by  hear- 
ing you  express  such  opinions  in  public,  for  you 
know  grandpapa  can't  take  you  about  the  coun- 
try visiting  with  him,  because  a  great  many  peo- 
ple would  not  recognize  you.  They  call  you  a 
rebel." 

"  Do  they  ?"  wrathfully  replied  Archy.  "  I'll 
give  them  to  understand,  then,  that  I'd  rather 
be  an  American  and  a  rebel — yes,  by  Jove!  a 
rebel  against  tyrannical  kings — than  to  be  heir 
to  Lord  Bellingham's  title  and  estates.  And  that 
I  will  show  them,  too !" 

"  I  hope  you  will  stick  to  it,"  said  Isabel,  tart- 
ly, "  for  it  is  a  pity  to  have  the  estate  go  out  of 
the  family,  and  Trevor  will  get  it  if  you  don't. 
Dear  Trevor!"  Isabel,  who  was  tender-hearted 
in  spite  of  her  high  spirit,  could  not  keep  the 
tears  out  of  her  eyes  at  the  mention  of  Trevor's 
name,  and  Archy,  too,  was  softened,  for  he  an- 
swered : 

"  Hang  it,  Isabel,  why  do  you  say  such  mad- 
dening things  ?  If  you  were  not  Langton's  sister 
and  your  mother's  daughter  I  would  serve  you 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION  269 

as  William  the  Conqueror  did  the  Princess  Ma- 
tilda— roll  you  in  the  mud  until  you  cried  pec- 
cavi"  at  which  Isabel  smiled  in  a  superior  man- 
ner. She  was  so  tall  and  strong  that  William 
the  Conqueror  would  have  had  trouble  rolling 
her  in  the  mud. 

Lord  Bellingham  moved  away  in  a  thoughtful 
mood.  He  began,  for  the  first  time,  to  realize 
that  he  might  possibly  not  succeed  in  buying  up 
his  grandson — a  reflection  which  he  had  hither- 
to refused,  even  in  his  own  mind,  to  consider  a 
possibility. 

However,  fate  was  preparing  a  delicious  re- 
venge for  Archy  upon  his  two  cousins,  and  it 
took  a  form  which  not  only  gave  him  ecstatic 
pleasure  at  the  time,  but  sufficed  him  for  chaf- 
fing the  two  girls  during  the  residue  of  their 
lives ;  and  this  is  how  it  came  about. 

The  spring  had  passed,  the  fall  of  the  Minis- 
try had  made  it  certain  that  the  American  war 
was  practically  over,  and  the  summer  came  and 
waned.  But  it  was  not  like  summer  weather, 
and  on  a  certain  August  night  the  air  was  so 
sharp  upon  the  northern  hills  and  moors  that 
a  fire  was  not  unpleasant  in  the  great  hall  at 
Bellingham  Castle.  Lord  Bellingham  sat  before 
it,  with  Mary  and  Isabel  taking  turns  in  reading 


270  THE    KOCK   OF   THE    LION 

the  London  newspapers  to  him.  The  news  they 
contained  of  the  abandonment  of  hostilities  was 
not  very  agreeable  to  either  of  the  girls,  each 
of  whom  punctuated  her  reading  with  her  own 
opinions,  very  much  after  Archy's  manner.  Lord 
Bellingham  listened,  smiling  instead  of  scowl- 
ing. The  society  of  his  daughter  and  of  his 
grandchildren  had  certainly  changed  the  old 
man's  temper  and  manners,  if  not  his  disposi- 
tion. Presently  Lord  Bellingham  asked  : 

"  Where  is  my  grandson  ?" 

"Indeed,  I  don't  know,  grandpapa,"  replied 
Mary.  "  He  is  the  most  restless  creature  I  ever 
saw.  He  cannot  sit  down  and  be  quiet  and 
placid  like  an  English  gentleman ;  he  must  al- 
ways be  off  on  some  sort  of  an  expedition." 

Lord  Bellingham  smiled  again.  He  knew  that 
the  instant  Archy  entered  the  doors  the  three 
young  people  would  gravitate  together,  although 
to  say  a  civil  word  one  to  the  other  was  strictly 
against  their  code. 

"  There  he  is  now,"  said  Isabel,  as  steps  were 
heard,  and  the  porter  came  out  from  his  corner 
to  open  the  doors. 

Instead  of  Archy,  though,  there  entered  a 
slight,  well-made  man,  of  about  thirty -five, 
with  a  plain  but  striking  face,  in  which  glowed 


THE    ROCK   OF   THE   LION  271 

a  pair  of  singularly  beautiful  black  eyes.  He  was 
dressed  in  a  handsome  riding -suit,  and  had  an 
air  and  manner  of  distinction. 

"  Is  Mr.  Archibald  Baskerville  here  ?"  he  asked ; 
and  then,  seeing  the  old  man  and  the  two  girls 
sitting  at  the  other  end  of  the  vast  hall  in  the 
glowing  light  of  the  fire,  and  the  waxlights  on  a 
reading-stand,  he  advanced,  removing  his  three- 
cornered  hat  and  making  a  profound  and  grace- 
ful bow,  first  to  the  two  girls  and  then  to  their 
grandfather. 

Lord  Bellingham,  who  had  seen  much  of  men 
and  things,  recognized  in  an  instant  that  he  saw 
before  him  a  person  of  distinction,  and,  rising 
from  his  chair  with  much  dignity,  he  returned 
the  salutation  with  a  courtly  inclination. 

The  stranger  then  spoke  in  a  softly  modulated 
voice,  in  which  there  was  occasionally  a  slight 
hesitation. 

"  I  believe  I  am  addressing  Lord  Bellingham, 
and — "  he  paused  andlooked  towards  the  two  girls, 
whose  height  and  beauty  made  them  appear  much 
older  than  their  sixteen  and  seventeen  years. 

"  My  granddaughters,"  said  Lord  Bellingham, 
with  a  wave  of  his  hand. 

The  stranger  made  another  bow,  so  elegant 
that  the  two  girls  summoned  all  their  grace  to 


272  THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

return  it  properly,  and  then,  accepting  the  chair 
which  Lord  Bellingham  indicated,  he  continued : 

"I  venture  the  liberty  of  calling  to  see  my 
young  friend,  Mr.  Baskerville.  I  trust  he  is  still 
here." 

"Mr.  Baskerville  is  not  at  present  under  this 
roof,  but  we  are  expecting  him  in  momentarily," 
replied  Lord  Belliugham.  "  Mr.  Baskerville  is 
my  grandson,  and  I  beg  to  introduce  myself  as 
Lord  Bellingham." 

"  I  wish,  my  lord,"  replied  the  stranger,  with 
dignity,  "  that  I  could  respond  to  the  courtesy 
you  show  me  by  introducing  myself.  But  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  times  are  such  that  I  am  compelled 
to  forego,  for  political  as  well  as  personal  reasons, 
giving  my  name.  Mr.  Baskerville,  however,  will 
recognize  me  as  an  officer  and  a  gentleman." 

ISTow,  Lord  Bellingham  was  not  addicted  to 
making  friends  with  strangers,  but  he  was  so  cap- 
tivated with  his  unknown  visitor's  air  and  man- 
ners and  speech,  and  his  curiosity  was  so  aroused, 
that  his  answer  was  in  a  very  courteous  tone : 

"  These  are,  indeed,  troublous  times,  and  I  am 
more  than  willing  to  take  my  grandson's  friend 
on  trust.  I  may  hazard,  however,  in  spite  of  your 
excellent  English,  that  you  are  a  Frenchman,  or 
a  Spaniard  perhaps,  who  finds  himself  in  Eng- 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  273 

land,  and  whom  prudence  requires  that  he  should 
conceal  his  name." 

"  I  am  neither  French  nor  Spanish,"  coolly  re- 
sponded the  stranger.  "  I  was  born  in  Scotland. 
But  I  have  lately  come  from  Paris." 

"  How  are  affairs  there,  may  I  inquire  ?" 

"  In  a  very  singular  state,"  replied  the  stran- 
ger. "  With  an  autocratic  government,  and  lit- 
tle sympathy  between  the  court  and  the  people, 
the  court  ardently  espouses  the  cause  of  democ- 
racy in  the  case  of  the  American  colonies." 

"  And  the  King  and  Queen  will  rue  it,"  ener- 
getically cried  Lord  Bellingham,  bringing  his  slen- 
der, ivory -headed  cane  down  to  emphasize  his 
remarks.  "They  are  teaching  their  people  re- 
bellion against  kings,  and  they  may  pay  the  pen- 
alty by  being  driven  out  of  their  own  bailiwick." 

The  stranger,  as  if  not  caring  to  pursue  the 
subject  further,  turned  and  said,  in  a  manner  at 
once  flattering  and  respectful : 

"May  I  be  permitted  to  observe  that  these 
two  charming  young  gentlewomen  remind  me 
strongly  of  her  Majesty  Queen  Marie  Antoi- 
nette ;  and  in  proof  of  this,  allow  me  to  show 
you  this." 

He  drew  from  his  bosom  a  very  beautiful  min- 
iature of  the  Queen,  set  in  brilliants,  with  her 


274  THE    BOOK   OF   THE    LION 

monogram,  and  handed  it  to  Isabel.  There  was, 
undoubtedly,  a  likeness  between  that  fair,  haugh- 
ty face  and  the  faces  of  the  two  handsome  young 
English  girls,  with  their  abundant  blond  hair, 
their  brilliant  blue  eyes,  and  their  short  upper 
lips,  like  the  Austrian. 

Mary  and  Isabel  smiled  delightedly.  It  was 
something  to  be  told  they  looked  like  the  Queen 
of  France,  and  that  by  a  gentleman  who  had 
been  honored  by  the  gift  of  her  portrait. 

The  miniature  at  once  established  the  stranger 
in  Lord  Bellingham's  mind  as  a  person  of  conse- 
quence, and  he  was  already  deep  in  the  good 
graces  of  Isabel  and  Mary. 

His  conversation  further  prepossessed  them  in 
his  favor.  Quiet,  modest,  and  without  dragging 
in  the  names  of  the  great,  it  was  easy  to  see 
that  he  had  moved  in  the  best  society  of  Paris, 
and  by  his  frank  comment  upon  persons  and 
things  he  showed  he  was  not  in  slavish  subser- 
vience to  it.  He  spoke  of  the  King  and  Queen 
with  gratitude  and  affection,  but  on  the  subject 
of  the  administration  of  the  military  and  naval 
affairs  of  France  he  showed  something  approach- 
ing bitterness  and  chagrin. 

Lord  Bellingham  was  deeply  interested  in  the 
conversation  of  so  accomplished  a  man ;  but  Isa- 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  275 

bel  and  Mary,  whose  lives  had  been  spent  in 
seclusion,  were  perfectly  infatuated  with  him. 
They  thought  him  a  duke,  at  least,  and  even 
whispered  to  each  other,  under  cover  of  their 
grandfather's  sonorous  conversation,  that  the 
stranger  might  prove  to  be  the  Comte  d'Artois, 
that  younger  brother  of  the  royal  house  of  France 
who  was  celebrated  for  milking  the  cow  so  beau- 
tifully at  the  Little  Trianon,  and  who  was  the 
best  dancer  on  the  tight-rope  in  Paris. 

Nearly  an  hour  had  passed  in  conversation 
when,  with  a  bang,  the  great  hall  door  came 
open,  and  Archy  and  Colonel  Baskerville  en- 
tered, just  home  from  a  long  ride. 

The  stranger  rose  instantly,  and,  facing  the 
door,  held  up  a  hand  of  warning.  As  soon  as 
Archy's  eyes  became  accustomed  to  the  glow 
of  the  fire  and  candles,  he  uttered  a  cry  of 

joy- 

"  My — "  captain  he  was  about  to  say,  when 
he  caught  sight  of  Paul  Jones's  uplifted  hand, 
and  the  word  was  checked  in  time.  But,  rush- 
ing forward,  the  two  met  and  clasped  each  other 
rapturously,  and  in  that  warm  embrace  some 
whispered  words  were  exchanged  which  caused 
them  both  to  smile  delightedly  as  they  returned 
to  the  fire  with  their  arms  around  each  other 


276  THE    EOCK    OF   THE    LION 

like  two  school-boys,  instead  of  being  a  captain 
and  one  of  his  junior  officers. 

Lord  Bellingham  and  the  two  girls  were 
amazed  at  the  warmth  of  the  meeting,  and  more 
puzzled  than  ever  to  make  out  the  identity  of  their 
mysterious  visitor.  Not  so  Colonel  Baskerville. 
He  surmised  in  an  instant  that  it  was  Paul  Jones. 

"Grandfather,"  cried  Archy,  "I  cannot  tell 
you  the  name  of  this  gentleman  whom  I  have 
the  honor  to  call  my  friend,  but  I  assure  you 
that  Bellingham  never  sheltered  a  more  honora- 
ble and  deserving  man." 

"I  believe  you,"  replied  Lord  Bellingham, 
with  dignity,  "  and  as  I  have  already  accepted 
him  upon  his  own  representations,  I  can  do  no 
more  on  yours.  Perhaps  your  friend  will  re- 
main the  night  with  us  ?" 

"Unfortunately,  no,"  replied  Paul  Jones, 
"  with  sincere  thanks  for  your  lordship's  good- 
ness. I  have  been  two  weeks  in  England,  and 
to  -  morrow  morning,  early,  I  must  embark.  I 
have  ordered  post-horses  from  the  village  for 
twelve  o'clock  to  -  night,  which  will  get  me  to 
the  coast  before  this  time  to-morrow." 

"  Uncle,"  then  said  Archy,  turning  to  Colonel 
Baskerville,  "  will  you  not,  on  my  assurance, 
shake  hands  with  my  friend  ?" 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION  377 

"Certainly,"  responded  Colonel  Baskerville, 
offering  his  hand,  and  saying,  in  a  low  voice, 
which  Lord  Bellingham  did  not  catch :  "  With  a 
surmise  which  amounts  to  a  certainty  as  to  who 
he  is." 

Supper  was  now  ordered  in  Lord  Bellingham's 
room,  and  when  it  was  announced,  all  four  of 
the  gentlemen  arose.  Mrs.  Langton  had  sent  a 
message  asking  to  be  excused,  so  Isabel  and 
Mary  were  to  go  to  their  mother.  As  they  rose, 
Paul  Jones  made  them  another  of  those  cap- 
tivating bqws  which  had  charmed  very  great 
ladies,  much  less  two  innocent  and  unsophisti- 
cated young  girls,  and  they  returned  it  with 
curtseys  which  almost  brought  them  to  the 
ground.  And  then  a  strange  thing  happened. 
Archy  suddenly  doubled  up  with  silent  laughter. 
Lord  Bellingham  had  preceded  them  and  was 
now  passing  through  the  library  door,  so  that  he 
could  neither  see  nor  hear  what  was  going  on 
behind  him.  Paul  Jones  looked  surprised  until 
Archy  whispered  in  his  ear : 

"  My  cousins  profess  to  detest  Americans !" 

A  smile  suddenly  illuminated  his  dark  face, 
while  Colonel  Baskerville,  like  Archy,  seemed  to 
be  excessively  amused  at  the  profound  curtseys 
of  the  two  young  girls. 


278  THE    BOCK    OF   THE    LION 

"Dear  ladies,"  said  Paul  Jones,  who  was 
famous  for  making  headway  with  the  other  sex, 
"may  I  not  have  the  honor  of  kissing  your 
charming  hands,  as  a  memory  to  carry  away 
with  me  of  the  two  most  beautiful  maidens  I 
have  ever  known  outside  my  native  country  ?" 

And  Isabel  and  Mary,  blushing  and  smiling 
and  nothing  loath,  extended  their  hands,  which 
Paul  Jones  touched  with  his  lips  in  the  most  re- 
spectful manner.  As  they  sailed  gracefully  off, 
Archy  seized  Colonel  Baskerville,  who  wore  a 
sympathetic  grin,  and  whispered,  convulsively : 

"  Uncle,  this  is  more  than  I  can  stand.  I  shall 
certainly  explode  when  I  think  of  Isabel  and 
Mary — and — o-ho !"  Arch}7  went  off  into  spasms 
of  laughter,  which  lasted  until  he  was  seated  at 
the  table  directly  under  Lord  Bellingham's  stern 
eye.  And  even  then,  with  all  his  pride  and  de- 
light in  his  old  commander,  Archy  was  secretly 
convulsed  when  he  anticipated  the  revelation  of 
Paul  Jones's  identity  after  he  was  out  of  the 
three  kingdoms.  He  felt  no  fear  for  his  brave 
commander ;  he  knew  that  few  men  united  the 
greatest  boldness  with  the  most  consummate  pru- 
dence as  Paul  Jones  did,  and  was  perfectly  sure 
that  after  having*  escaped  capture  in  the  two 
weeks  the  great  captain  bad  been  in  England, 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  279 

lie  was  little  likely  to  be  caught  between  Bell- 
ingham  and  the  coast. 

Lord  Bellingham  had  promptly  surrendered  to 
the  charm  of  Paul  Jones's  conversation,  and  lis- 
tened with  profound  attention  to  all  he  had  to 
say,  as  did  Colonel  Baskerville.  Paul  Jones  gave 
much  interesting  information  about  affairs  on  the 
Continent,  but  with  so  much  tact  that  no  one 
would  have  suspected  the  active  part  he  had 
taken  in  many  of  the  incidents  he  related.  He 
sat,  the  wax  light  falling  upon  his  clear-cut  face 
and  deep  and  speaking  eyes,  one  knee  careless- 
ly thrown  over  the  other,  and  his  brown,  sinewy 
hand  involuntarily  seeking  the  hilt  of  the  dress 
sword  that  he  wore,  according  to  the  custom  of 
the  time.  Lord  Bellingham  was  in  his  most  gra- 
cious mood,  but  the  more  fascinated  he  was  with 
the  conversation  of  his  new  guest,  the  more  pro- 
found was  his  curiosity  to  find  out  who  the  stran- 
ger was.  The  personal  history  of  Paul  Jones 
was  little  known  at  that  time,  and  his  announce- 
ment that  he  was  born  in  Scotland  did  not  en- 
lighten Lord  Bellingham  in  the  least.  In  vain 
he  framed  adroit  questions ;  Paul  Jones's  answers 
were  more  adroit  still.  Lord  Bellingham,  with 
an  inscrutable  smile  upon  his  handsome  old  face, 
listened  and  watched,  and  was  at  last  compelled, 


280  THE    ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

after  four  hours  of  close  conversation,  to  admit 
to  himself  that  he  had  utterly  failed  to  penetrate 
the  stranger's  disguise. 

A  few  minutes  before  midnight  Paul  Jones 
rose. 

"  My  horses  are  now  due  from  the  village,"  he 
said, "  and  I  must  leave  this  hospitable  roof.  Will 
not  you,  Mr.  Baskerville,  go  with  me  one  stage 
on  the  road  ?" 

Archy  accepted  delightedly.  The  whole  party 
then,  Lord  Bellingham  included,  came  out  in  the 
cold  and  gloomy  hall,  where  the  fire  had  quite 
died  out,  to  bid  the  guest  farewell.  Colonel  Bask- 
erville said  good  -  bye  with  great  courtesy,  and 
added : 

"  I  beg  to  say  that  I  offer  you  my  hand  with 
full  knowledge,  I  believe,  of  your  name,  and  char- 
acter, and  rank." 

Paul  Jones's  expressive  eyes  glowed  with  pleas- 
ure. Many  English  officers  refused  to  recognize 
him  on  account  of  his  having  adopted  the  Amer- 
ican cause,  although  born  in  one  of  the  British 
Isles,  and  the  respect  of  such  a  man  as  Colonel 
Baskerville  was  peculiarly  gratifying. 

"  I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  your  gener- 
ous recognition*  it  is  the  mark  of  a  just  and 
liberal  mind.  And  to  you,  sir,"  said  Paul  Jones, 


THE   ROCK   OF  THE    LION  381 

turning  to  Lord  Bellingham,  "I  do  not  know 
whether  you  would  extend  to  me  the  same  hos- 
pitality you  have  this  night  if  you  knew  my 
name.  Every  motive  of  the  most  ordinary  pru- 
dence requires  me  to  keep  it  secret  the  brief  time 
I  am  in  England.  Yet,  as  a  slight  testimony  to 
my  belief  in  your  generosity,  I  will  say  to  you 
that  I  am  Paul  Jones,  captain  in  the  continental 
navy." 

And  the  next  moment  he  had  passed  through 
the  great  doors,  descended  the  stone  steps,  and 
his  post-chaise  was  rolling  rapidly  off  with  him- 
self and  Archy  inside. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

"Now,  tell  me,  my  captain,"  cried  Archy, 
"  what  I  have  been  longing  to  ask — what  brought 
you  to  England  ?" 

"  A  desire  to  serve  my  country.  Knowing  that 
I  must  soon  return  to  America,  and  hoping  that 
one  of  the  first  things  which  will  engage  the  at- 
tention of  Congress  will  be  the  organization  of 
a  navy,  I  determined  to  find  out  all  I  could  about 
the  English  dock-yards.  For  this  purpose  I  land- 
ed at  Plymouth  two  weeks  ago.  I  managed,  by 
means  I  cannot  now  reveal  to  you,  to  inspect  the 
dock-yards  at  Plymouth  and  Portsmouth  both, 
and  I  have  in  my  head  a  complete  knowledge  of 
the  methods  by  which  the  British  navy  is  built, 
armed,  manned,  and  victualled ;  and  this  infor- 
mation I  shall  lay  before  the  Marine  Committee 
of  Congress  as  soon  .as  I  return.  I  have  also  a 
complete  list  of  every  ship  in  the  British  navy,  with 
the  rating,  metal,  boats,  officers,  and  men,  when 
and  where  built,  and  present  station  and  employ- 
ment. How  I  got  it  goes  with  me  to  the  grave, 


THE    KOCK   OF   THE   LION  283 

a  secret.*  Meanwhile,  it  became  advisable  for 
me  to  get  away  from  England  as  soon  as  possible. 
I  found  all  the  ports  in  the  south  of  England 
were  watched,  but  I  played  with  my  enemies  by 
taking  post  for  Yorkshire.  The  captain  of  a 
Portuguese  vessel,  which  lay  at  Gravesend,  was 
to  call  at  Bridlington  for  a  part  of  his  cargo,  and 
I  persuaded  him,  by  the  promise  of  a  considerable 
sum  of  money,  to  wait  for  me  north  of  the  Ilum- 
ber  for  three  days.  He  is  probably  there  now, 
and  he  is  to  land  me  in  France.  And  now  for 
our  mutual  adventures." 

"  Your's  first,  of  course." 

And  then  Paul  Jones  began  and  gave  Archy  a 
clear  account  of  how  things  were  going,  as  nearly 
as  he  could  tell,  in  America.  It  was  then  Archy's 
turn,  and  he  told  with  great  relish  of  Lord  Bell- 
ingham's  efforts  to  induce  him  to  become  a  Brit- 
ish subject,  of  Colonel  Baskerville's  unvarying 
kindness  and  wisdom,  of  Trevor  Langton's  brill- 
iant prospects,  in  case  he  were  alive. 

"  I  hope  he  may  still  be  living ;  but  I  heard 
through  a  well-informed  person  in  London  that 
sickness  was  making  fearful  inroads  upon  the 

*  Paul  Jones  did  possess  this  list,  and  he  never  revealed 
the  source  of  his  information,  which  was  supposed  to  be 
some  one  high  in  authority  at  the  Admiralty. 


384  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

garrison.  I  remembered  your  cousin's  name, 
and  asked  if  there  were  news  of  him.  It  seems 
that  the  Due  de  Crillon  is  most  generous  in  al- 
lowing news  of  individuals,  and  I  was  told  that 
he  had  lately  had  a  severe  attack  of  fever,  and  it 
was  not  known  whether  he  was  alive  or  dead." 

This  was  distressing  news  for  Archy  to  hear. 
He  was  silent  a  few  moments,  and  then  said  : 

"  I  will  mention  this  first  to  my  uncle,  and 
leave  it  to  him  whether  he  will  tell  my  aunt 
and  cousins  and  my  grandfather.  It  will  break 
his  mother's  heart  if  Langton  is — "  Here  Archy 
stopped,  unable  to  continue;  but  after  a  while 
he  recovered  himself,  and  began  to  take  his  usual 
cheerful  view  of  Langton's  chances. 

"He  may  be  as  well  as  you  and  I  are  at  this 
moment,  so  I  will  not  allow  myself  to  fear  for 
him.  And  now,  will  you  advise  me  for  myself  ?" 

"  I  can  only  repeat  to  you  the  advice  I  gave 
you  in  Paris.  If  I  saw  the  slightest  danger  of 
your  being  beguiled  into  giving  up  your  country, 
I  would  wish  you  to  leave  England  at  once.  As 
it  is,  I  see  that  Lord  Bellingham  is  most  kindly 
disposed  towards  you ;  and  you  are  much  better 
off  until  affairs  have  finally  settled  themselves 
with  him,  and  ^especially  Colonel  Baskerville,  of 
whom  I  have  formed  a  high  opinion.  Remem- 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  285 

ber,  you  are  still,  technically,  an  officer  on  parole, 
and  so  you  will  remain  until  peace  is  signed.  I 
recommend,  both  for  your  interest  as  well  as  your 
real  welfare,  to  remain  with  your  relatives  until 
you  are  quite  free.  I  am  glad  to  see  that  you 
have  some  domestic  influences.  It  is  well  for  a 
young  man  who  has  no  mother  or  sisters  to  have 
the  association  with  some  one  else's  mother  and 
sisters  —  and  if  the  mother  of  those  sweet  and 
modest  girls  be  like  them,  you  are  fortunate." 

Archy  had  not  thought  he  could  laugh  so  soon 
after  hearing  of  Langton's  supposed  illness,  but 
at  the  recollection  of  Mary's  and  Isabel's  gratifica- 
tion and  delight  at  being  noticed  by  Paul  Jones, 
Archy  burst  into  laughter,  long  and  loud. 

"  If  3rou  could  but  hear  us  quarrel !  My  cousins 
are,  as  you  say,  sweet  and  modest ;  but  they  hate 
everything  connected  with  our  cause,  and  when 
I  tell  them  that  it  is  you — " 

Paul  Jones  joined  in  Archy 's  merriment,  so 
that  the  postilion  thought  the  two  gentlemen 
inside  had  lost  their  minds,  they  laughed  so 
much. 

They  reached  the  first  and  last  stage — a  village 
on  the  coast — at  daylight.  From  thence  Archy 
was  to  return  to  Bellingham  in  the  post-chaise. 
Dawn  was  breaking  over  the  German  Ocean,  and 


286  THE    ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

the  east  glowed  with  a  soft  radiance  that  was 
turning  the  sky  to  an  exquisite  rose -color,  and 
was  presently  to  break  into  the  splendor  of  the 
sunrise.  Few  vessels  dotted  the  sea,  but  near 
the  shore  lay  a  Portuguese  brigantine,  which  Paul 
Jones  at  once  recognized.  Afar  off,  the  pile  of 
Scarborough  Castle  frowned  over  the  sea.  Paul 
Jones's  eyes  sparkled,  as  did  Archy's,  when  they 
looked  seaward. 

"  It  was  yonder,"  cried  Paul  Jones,  "  that  we 
fought  the  Serapis.  Under  those  waves  rests 
what  was  left  of  the  gallant  old  Bon  Homme 
Richard.  Yonder  is  the  sea  on  which  I  struck 
one  good  and  ringing  blow  for  my  country  !'' 

"  And  made  the  name  of  Paul  Jones  immor- 
tal," replied  Archy,  feeling  his  heart  swell  at 
the  sight  of  the  man  who  had  earned  so  much 
glory  on  that  spot. 

The  parting  was  painful  for  both,  although 
they  expected  to  meet  shortly  in  their  own  liber- 
ated and  victorious  country;  but  it  was  brief. 
The  brigantine  sent  a  boat  ashore,  and  almost 
before  Archy  realized  that  he  had  said  good-bye 
to  his  friend  and  captain,  Paul  Jones  was  aboard, 
and  the  brigantine  was  stretching  out  to  sea  with 
a  fair  wind.  , 

Archy  turned  towards  the  little  public-house 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  287 

where  the  horses  were  baited,  and  ordered  some 
breakfast  for  himself.  He  felt  dazed.  It  seemed 
to  him  as  if  weeks  separated  him  from  the  same 
hour  the  day  before.  After  getting  his  break- 
fast he  went  to  the  chaise,  while  the  horses  were 
resting,  entered  it,  and  fell  sound  asleep.  He  did 
not  stir  until  noon.  By  that  time  the  horses  were 
being  put  to,  and  they  took  the  road  for  home. 
Archy,  who  was  a  good  sleeper,  dozed  nearly  all 
the  way,  but  he  was  disturbed  by  troubled  dreams 
and  thoughts  of  Langton.  However,  when  in  the 
dusk  of  evening  he  drove  up  to  Bellingham  he 
was  quite  wide  awake,  and  not  all  his  anxieties 
for  his  friend  could  wholly  damp  his  glee  at 
his  prospective  triumph  over  Mary  and  Isabel. 
He  had  no  fears  as  to  the  manner  in  which  Lord 
Bellingham  would  receive  him  after  knowing  the 
name  of  his  mysterious  guest.  His  grandfather 
would  never  on  earth  admit  that  he  had  been 
hoodwinked  in  any  way,  and  no  matter  how 
chagrined  he  was  he  would  put  a  bold  face  on 
it.  But  Isabel  and  Mary ! 

Archy  rushed  in  the  hall  and  found  them  sit- 
ting around  the  fire  as  they  had  been  the  pre- 
vious evening,  with  the  addition  of  Colonel 
Baskerville  and  Mrs.  Langton. 

"  Grandfather,"  bawled  Archy,  quite  unable  to 


288  THE    KOCK    OF   THE   LION 

moderate  his  exultation,  "  do  you  know  who  it 
was  you  entertained  last  night  ?  Ha !  ha !" 

"  Perfectly,"  replied  Lord  Bellingham,  with  a 
cold  smile. 

Archy  felt  rather  flat,  and  looked  reproachful- 
ly at  Colonel  Baskerville,  who,  he  felt  convinced, 
had  robbed  him  of  the  pleasure  of  springing  the 
sensation  on  his  'grandfather.  But  Mary  and  Isa- 
bel were  left.  Colonel  Baskerville  had  not  been 
cruel  enough  to  deprive  him  of  that  delicious 
triumph  over  them. 

"  Do  you  know,  Mary  and  Isabel  ?"  he  cried. 

"  No,"  replied  Isabel,  "  but  he  was  so  graceful 
and  agreeable.  We  told  mamma  we  were  sure 
he  is  a  man  of  rank." 

"  So  he  is,"  shouted  Archy,  in  reply. 

"  And  there  was  something  so  romantic  about 
him,"  chimed  in  Mary. 

"  When  he  showed  us  the  portrait  of  Queen 
Marie  Antoinette,  we  thought  it  might  be  possi- 
ble— though  I  dare  say  it  was  foolish  enough — 
that  he  might  be  the  King's  brother,  the  Comte 
d'Artois." 

At  this  Archy  capered  with  delight.  Colonel 
Baskerville  whispered  something  to  Mrs.  Lang- 
ton,  who  started  with  surprise,  but  who  laughed 
in  her  gentle  way  at  the  little  comedy  being 


THE   ROOK   OF   THE    LION  289 

played  by  Archy,  whom  she  had  learned  to  love, 
and  Mary  and  Isabel. 

"  At  all  events,  he  was  very  civil,"  announced 
Isabel,  "  and  I  am  sure  I  hope  he  liked  the  way 
we  curtseyed.  Oh,  how  easy  it  is  to  tell  persons 
of  rank  and  birth." 

"  Indeed,  that  is  true,"  Mary  echoed ;  "  and  I 
dare  say,  cousin  Archy,  your  friend  is  very  much 
opposed  to  these  extraordinary  American  sym- 
pathies and  notions  of  yours." 

"  Do  you  want  to  know  who  he  is  ?"  shrieked 
Archy,  joyfully.  "  Do  you  want  to  know,  I  say? 
He  is  Captain  Paul  Jones,  of  the  continental 
navy — so  much  for  his  rank;  and  as  for  his 
birth,  he  is  the  son  of  a  gardener.  O-oo-ooh !" 
Archy's  yells  of  rapturous  laughter  fairly  made 
the  roof  ring,  and  it  was  so  infectious  that  even 
Lord  Bellingham  burst  into  a  cackle — the  near- 
est approach  he  ever  made  to  audible  laughter. 

But  it  was  no  laughing  matter  to  Mary  and 
Isabel.  They  sat  as  if  paralyzed,  looking  blank- 
ly at  each  other,  and  quite  stunned  by  the  mag- 
nitude of  the  mistake  they  had  made.  Mary 
gasped  out : 

"  Paul—" 

And  Isabel  added,  faintly : 

''Jones." 

19 


290  THE   BOCK    OF   THE    LION 

And  then,  unable  to  stand  the  laughter,  in 
which  even  their  mother  joined,  while  Colonel 
Baskerville  haw-hawed  openly,  they  flung  out  of 
the  hall  and  rushed  up  to  their  rooms,  where, 
locked  in  each  other's  arms,  they  wept  bitterly 
from  pure  chagrin. 

All  this  was  bliss  to  Archy,  but  serious 
thoughts  were  lurking  in  his  mind.  He  took 
the  first  opportunity  to  speak  to  Colonel  Basker- 
ville alone  without  attracting  observation — and 
that  opportunity  did  not  come  until  bedtime,  in 
the  Colonel's  own  room.  Then  he  repeated  what 
Paul  Jones  had  told  him  of  Langton's  illness. 

"  Poor  lad !  poor  lad !"  said  Colonel  Basker- 
ville, pacing  the  floor.  "  I  never  saw  him,  but 
in  my  heart  I  love  him.  I  think,  with  you,  it  is 
best  not  to  tell  his  mother  of  this  new  anxiety, 
but  it  would  be  well  to  let  Lord  Bellingham 
know.  As  Captain  Paul  Jones  says,  the  Due 
de  Crillon  is  most  chivalrous  in  permitting  com- 
munications with  the  garrison  at  Gibraltar  re- 
specting individuals,  and  there  might  be  means, 
through  Lord  Bellingharn's  influence  at  the  Ad- 
miralty, to  find  out  something  about  Langton." 

Next  morning  all  the  members  of  the  house- 
hold were  surprised  when  they  found  that  Lord 
Bellingham's  solicitor  had  arrived  from  York  at 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  291 

an  early  hour.  Archy  surmised  that  the  solicitor 
had  been  sent  for  in  regard  to  making  Lord  Bell- 
ingham's  will,  and  was  not  surprised,  during  the 
course  of  the  afternoon,  to  be  invited  to  his  grand- 
father's room.  Lord  Bellingham  thought  he  had 
made  up  his  mind  to  make  Langton  his  sole  heir, 
but  Archy  had  so  won  upon  his  pride  and  ambi- 
tion, which  took  the  place  of  a  heart  with  him, 
that  he  could  not  forbear  one  last  appeal  to  him. 

When  Archy,  so  frank,  so  manly,  so  handsome, 
stood  before  him,  Lord  Bellingham  yearned  to 
make  him  the  heir;  and  for  that  purpose  as- 
sumed a  dignity  and  sweetness  of  manner  which 
he  possessed,  but  rarely  exhibited.  Although 
Archy's  determination  was  too  firm  to  be  shaken, 
he  realized  that  Lord  Bellingham  could  be,  when 
he  chose,  a  very  persuasive  man.  Lord  Belling- 
ham used  every  argument,  and  one  in  especial 
was  peculiarly  touching  to  Archy,  while  not  con- 
vincing. 

"  I  will  acknowledge,"  he  said,  "  after  having 
been  of  another  mind  for  thirty  years,  that  I 
was  unduly  hard  on  your  father.  He  was  a 
better  son  to  me  than  I  was  a  father  to  him. 
Suffer  me,  therefore,  to  ease  my  conscience  of 
its  reproach  to  my  dead  son  by  helping  me  to 
give  you  your  rights." 


292  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

Archy  remained  silent.  He  knew  not  how 
to  put  his  refusal  in  words,  but  presently  he 
rose. 

"  Grandfather,"  he  said, "  I  thank  you  for  your 
justice  to  my  father.  He  had  his  faults  to  other 
people,  but  he  had  none  to  me ;  and  if  I  follow 
his  injunctions  I  shall  never  disgrace  him  or  you 
or  myself.  I  feel  sure,  though,  that  he  would 
advise  me  to  stand  by  my  country,  and  I  must 
do  it.  But  you  have  another  grandson — at  least, 
I  hope  you  have  —  who  is  much  more  likely 
to  fulfil  your  expectation  than  I  am — Trevor 
Langton." 

All  this  was  very  pretty,  thought  Lord  Bell- 
ingham,  but  it  did  not  serve  to  give  him  his  own 
way,  which  he  dearly  loved,  and  especially  in  this 
great  and  important  matter.  From  the  most  win- 
ning mildness  he  suddenly  changed  to  the  black- 
ness of  wrath.  He  sat  quite  silent,  beating  the 
devil's  tattoo  on  the  floor,  and  suddenly  burst 
out  with — 

"  Hang  it !  I'll  give  you  a  thousand  pounds  and 
let  you  go  back  to  your  damned  country !" 

"  Thank  you — thank  you  1"  cried  Archy,  who 
inherited  his  grandfather's  disinclination  to  ac- 
knowledge that  he  was  disappointed.  "  A  thou- 
sand pounds !  I'll  be  glad  to  get  a  hundred,  sir ! 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  293 

And  a  thousand !  It  will  buy  me  my  outfit  for 
the  navy,  when  we  get  one,  and  leave  enough  to 
live  like  a  prince  on  besides !" 

At  which  Lord  Bellingham  most  unexpectedly 
found  himself  laughing,  in  his  silent  way,  to  see 
that  what  he  had  intended  to  be  a  miserable  pit- 
tance should  be  received  so  debonairly  by  this 
unconventional  youngster. 

"  And  now,  sir,  may  I  go  and  tell  my  aunt  that 
you  have  cut  me  off  with  a  shilling,  so  to  speak 
— for  I  take  it  that  Langton  is  to  be  your  heir 
now,  poor  chap,  if  he  is  living  ?" 

"  You  may ;  and  I  say,  you  dog — I'll  give  you 
two  thousand  pounds." 

Archy  dashed  into  Mrs.  Langton's  sitting- 
room,  where,  with  Colonel  Baskerville,  Isabel, 
and  Mary,  she  was  anxiously  awaiting  the  result 
of  the  conference. 

"  Hurrah,  aunt !"  he  cried, "  my  grandfather  has 
behaved  like  a  king.  He  has  given  me  two  thou- 
sand pounds,  and  the  rest  will  be  Trevor's.  And 
now,  Miss  Mary  and  Miss  Isabel,"  he  added,  mali- 
ciously, "  I  beg  you  to  notice  that  I  could  have 
been  as  English  as  you  if  I  had  chosen,  and  could 
have  been  a  lord  to  boot — but  not  I !  If  I  can  but 
get  a  lieutenant's  commission  in  the  American 
navy,  I'd  rather  have  it  than  to  be  Lord  Belling- 


294  THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION 

ham  of  Bellingham  Castle.  Do  you  believe  me 
now  F 

And  even  Mary  and  Isabel  received  the  an- 
nouncement with  respect.  Mrs.  Langton  kissed 
him  tenderly,  saying : 

"  You  are  a  noble  boy,  and  I  wish  you  were 
my  son,  too,"  while  Colonel  Baskerville  shook 
his  hand  warmly. 

"You  have  done  the  very  thing  I  could  not 
wish  you  to  do,"  he  said,  "  but  I  must  admit  that 
you  have  acted  the  gentleman  and  the  man  of 
honor." 

Lord  Bellingham  showed  that  he  was  in  earnest 
in  sending  for  his  solicitor  to  make  his  will,  but 
the  news  they  had  just  learned  of  Langton's  ill- 
ness made  it  important  that  it  should  be  known 
whether  he  were  still  alive  at  the  moment  of 
disposing  of  so  much  property.  Lord  Bellingham 
showed  the  most  intense  eagerness.  After  hav- 
ing put  off  making  his  will  until  his  old  age, 
he  then  became  morbidly  desirous  to  make  it ; 
and  at  last,  after  many  conferences  with  his 
solicitor  and  Colonel  Baskerville,  the  Colonel  hit 
upon  a  plan  in  his  own  mind  on  which  he  con- 
gratulated himself.  He  spoke  privately  to  the 
solicitor  about  it  before  mentioning  it  to  Archy 
or  Lord  Bellingham. 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  295 

"  My  nephew,  Mr.  Baskerville,  has  a  safe-con- 
duct from  the  French  government  which  would 
easily  enable  him  to  go  to  Gibraltar  by  way  of 
France.  He  could  go  there,  find  out  whether 
Trevor  Langton  is  alive  or  dead  —  alive,  I  trust 
and  pray  —  and  return  in  one-half  the  time  it 
would  take  for  an  inquiry  through  the  regular 
channels.  I  have  no  doubt  he  would  go.  He  is 
at  the  restless  age  which,  happily,  does  not  last 
always;  and  besides,  if  he  does  this  for  Lang- 
ton,  it  must  meet  with  a  reward  from  my  brother 
besides  the  paltry  two  thousand  pounds  he  has 
promised,  or  rather  threatened,  in  his  will.  But 
not  a  word  of  this  to  my  nephew.  He  is  not 
without  perversity,  and  besides,  having  done  a 
noble  and  disinterested  thing,  however  mistaken 
we  may  think  it,  he  is  too  acute  to  sully  it  by 
trying  to  make  interest  with  his  grandfather 
afterwards." 

Lord  Bellingham  grasped  eagerly  at  this,  and, 
of  his  own  volition,  said : 

"  I  should  not  fail  to  remember  this  in  making 
my  testamentary  arrangements." 

It  was  enough  to  mention  the  journey  to 
Archy.  The  eyes  of  Europe  were  turned  on 
Gibraltar.  The  moment  was  fast  approaching 
when  the  last  mortal  struggle  was  coming  be- 


296  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

tween  the  dauntless  garrison  and  the  gigantic 
naval  and  military  power  of  France  and  Spain, 
and  no  young  man  of  spirit  but  would  have  been 
fascinated  at  the  idea  of  seeing  the  climax  of 
these  great  events.  Archy  could  not  start  soon 
enough  to  please  himself,  and,  within  the  week, 
had  taken  the  road  to  London.  He  travelled  in 
state,  in  Lord  Bellingham's  private  post-chaise, 
which  was  to  take  him  to  London.  He  carried 
with  him  letters  to  Admiral  Kempenfelt,  who 
commanded  the  Royal  George — one  of  the  splen- 
did fleet  of  thirty-four  vessels  that  were  being 
made  ready  at  Spithead,  night  and  day,  for  an 
effort  to  save  Gibraltar — and  numerous  other 
letters,  calculated  to  forward  his  journey  to 
France  under  a  flag  of  truce,  and  he  had  also  a 
considerable  sum  of  money  in  gold. 

He  stopped  but  a  day  in  London,  to  have  his 
safe-conduct  vised  at  the  Admiralty.  Then  he 
sent  the  post-chaise  back  with  a  long  letter  to 
his  grandfather,  and  a  short  but  affectionate  one 
to  Trevor  Langton's  mother.  In  this  last,  he  act- 
ually forced  himself  to  send  his  love  to  Mary 
and  Isabel,  but  he  could  not  forbear  adding  at 
the  bottom : 

"  P.  S. — DEAR  AUNT, — I  hope  my  cousins  are  not  pin- 
ing away  for  Captain  Paul  Jones.  He  admires  the  ladies 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  297 

very  much,  but  I  do  not  think  he  has  the  intention  to  ask 
any  particular  fair  one  to  share  his  glorious  destiny  with 
him.  Break  this  gently  to  my  cousins. 

"A.  B." 

That  very  afternoon  Archy  took  post  for 
Portsmouth,  and  arrived  there  in  a  few  hours. 
He  went  to  the  celebrated  Angel  Inn,  and 
tumbled  into  bed,  and  was  astir  early  the  next 
morning  to  find  a  way  of  reaching  the  mighty 
and  invincible  Rock. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  next  morning,  the  29th  of  August,  1782, 
broke  clear,  bright,  and  beautiful.  A  magnif- 
icent fleet  lay  out  in  the  roads,  and,  towering 
among  them,  Archy  recognized  the  Royal  George, 
with  her  three  great  decks,  her  huge,  broad- 
beamed  hull,  and  her  lofty  masts.  Xo  one  who 
ever  sailed  on  this  ship  but  liked  her.  She  had 
a  record  of  good  fortune  which  made  her  a 
favorite  with  both  officers  and  men.  Her  quar- 
ters were  comfortable,  and  she  was  commonly 
thought  to  be  a  weatherly  ship,  although  the  ter- 
rible fate  which  was  impending  over  her  on  that 
August  morning  made  it  a  miracle  that  she  had 
survived  so  long,  for  at  that  time  she  was  the 
oldest  ship  of  the  line  in  the  British  service. 

Afloat  and  ashore,  all  was  the  orderly  bustle 
and  despatch  of  getting  a  fleet  of  more  than 
thirty  ships  ready  for  sea  in  short  order.  Ev- 
ery moment  was  precious,  but  Archy  saw  for 
himself  that  much  remained  to  be  done,  and  it 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE   LION  299 

would  be  many  days  yet  before  the  ships  could 
be  made  ready  to  leave. 

About  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  hired 
a  small  boat  and  put  out  to  the  Royal  George. 
As  he  neared  her,  he  saw  her  great  hull  slowly 
and  almost  imperceptibly  careen  on  the  star- 
board side,  by  which  he  was  approaching  her, 
and,  presently,  a  gang  of  men  in  slings  were  let 
down  over  her  port  side.  Archy  knew  very 
well  what  that  meant.  Something  was  to  be 
done  to  her  hull  below  the  water-line,  and  as 
the  day  was  perfectly  still,  without  a  breath  to 
ruffle  the  dead  calm  of  the  water,  the  ship  had 
been  heeled  over  to  save  time,  instead  of  the 
more  tedious  process  of  being  put  in  dry-dock  to 
have  the  work  done.  Soon  the  sound  of  rip- 
ping planks  off  and  the  noise  of  hammers  and 
chisels  echoed  over  the  water.  A  swarm  of  lit- 
tle boats  were  gathered  around  the  monster,  and 
her  decks  were  alive  with  people.  Forward  was 
a  crowd  of  women  and  children,  families  of  the 
men,  who  were  allowed  on  board  for  an  hour  or 
two,  as  all  work  was  suspended  while  the  ship 
was  being  heeled  over. 

The  ladder  was  over  the  starboard  side,  and 
as  Archy,  on  reaching  the  ship,  ran  lightly  up  it 
he  felt  a  strange  joy  at  again  touching  the  deck 


300  THE    BOOK   OF   THE    LION 

of  a  ship ;  and,  with  the  joyful  expectation  of 
youth,  he  fancied  that  in  a  little  while  the 
American  navy  would  possess  a  whole  fleet  of 
noble  ships  like  those  he  saw  around  him. 

As  he  stepped  over  the  side  the  officer  of  the 
deck  was  standing  close  by,  and,  on  Archy's  ex- 
plaining that  he  knew  Admiral  Kempenfelt  and 
had  a  letter  for  him,  the  lieutenant  called  the 
Admiral's  orderly,  and  in  a  few  moments  Archy 
was  shown  into  the  great  cabin. 

"Ah,  my  young  friend,  happy  to  see  you!" 
cried  Admiral  Kempenfelt,  rising  from  his  table, 
where  he  was  writing,  and  shaking  Archy's  hand 
cordially.  "  So  it  seems,  from  Lord  Bellingham's 
letter,  which  I  have  glanced  over,  that  you  have 
had  some  adventures  since  I  saw  you  last." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Archy,  smiling,  and  return- 
ing the  Admiral's  kindly  grasp.  "  But  not  the 
sort  I  want.  The  Seahorse's  people  seem  to  have 
ended  my  fighting  career  when  they  picked  me 
up  at  the  Texel  nearly  three  years  ago,  and  now 
that  our  countries  are  on  the  verge  of  peace,  it 
looks  as  if  I  would  never  have  another  chance 
to  do  a  little  whacking  on  my  own  account." 

"Ah,  that's  the  way  with  you  youngsters; 
nothing  but  whack  —  whacking  all  the  time. 
"Wait  until  you  get  my  age  and  you  will  love 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  301 

peace,  as  I  do.  I  am  heartily  glad,  though,  that 
this  quarrel  with  our  late  colonies  is  over.  Not 
one  -  tenth  of  our  people  have  been  in  favor  of 
the  war  for  two  years  past,  and  both  sides  have 
done  enough  now  to  come  to  an  honorable  peace. 
I  have  heard  something  of  you  since  you  have 
been  in  England  this  time.  So  you  won't  turn 
Englishman  for  Bellingham  and  all  it  carries 
with  it?" 

"No,  sir.  "Would  you  turn  Frenchman  for 
Versailles  and  St.  Cloud,  and  the  Louvre  thrown 
in?" 

"  No,  hanged  if  I  would  1" 

Archy  bowed  and  slapped  himself  on  the 
breast,  saying : 

"  I  perceive  I  am  in  good  company,  sir." 

"  Well,  now,  Mr.  Baskerville,  let  us  see  about 
getting  you  to  Gibraltar  before  we  get  there. 
A  vessel — the  fox  —  is  now  waiting  for  a  wind 
to  carry  some  French  officers  across,  to  be  ex- 
changed off  Ushant.  You  could  go  very  well  in 
her,  and,  once  in  France,  you  can  take  care  of 
yourself.  I  apprehend  no  difficulty  in  your  com- 
municating with  your  cousin.  The  Due  de  Cril- 
lon  is  well  known  to  be  most  courteous  in  con- 
veying letters  to  the  garrison,  and  even  sent 
some  delicacies  to  General  Eliot,  who  was  forced 


302  THE    ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

to  decline  them,  and  there  is  actually  much  po- 
lite communication  between  the  two  command- 
ers-in-chief.  I  will  myself  give  you  letters  to 
the  Admiral,  and  to  Captain  Wilbur,  of  the  Fox, 
which,  I  am  sure,  will  secure  you  a  berth  in  her." 

Admiral  Kempenfelt  took  up  a  pen  and  began 
writing  rapidly ;  but  the  cabin  floor,  which  had 
been  at  an  angle,  was  tilted  still  more,  and  his 
chair  slid  down,  while  Archy  caught  the  table 
as  it  was  slipping  after  the  chair. 

"  Deuced  inconvenient,  this  heeling  of  the  ship ; 
but  it  saves  time,  and  time  is  everything  to  our 
brave  fellows  at  Gibraltar,"  and  the  Admiral 
calmly  resumed  his  writing.  But  Archy  was  not 
so  calm.  He  looked  out  of  the  cabin  windows 
on  the  starboard  side,  and  the  nearness  of  the 
rippling  water  gave  him  a  kind  of  shock.  He 
tried  to  calculate  the  angle  of  the  floor,  which 
perceptibly  became  more  acute,  and  a  sudden 
apprehension  flashed  over  him  that  the  ship  was 
over  too  far  to  one  side — but  he  dared  not  speak. 

Meanwhile  the  Admiral  went  on  calmly  writ- 
ing, threw  sand  on  the  two  letters  he  had  writ- 
ten, and  after  reading  them  over  handed  them 
to  Archy. 

"There,"  he  said,  "I  hope  these  will  serve 
your  turn.  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  do  you  a 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  303 

kindness,  even  if  you  are  an  enemy,"  and  he 
placed  his  hand  affectionately  on  Archy's  shoul- . 
der.  "May  we  meet  again  under  happier  cir- 
cumstances :  in  peace,  all  our  quarrels  forgot,  and 
nothing  but  -good-will  between  us  all — amen." 

Something  in  the  Admiral's  kind  voice,  the 
grasp  of  his  manly  hand,  touched  Archy's  heart. 
The  feeling  of  instant  and  dreadful  apprehen- 
sion had  grown  upon  him  in  the  few  minutes 
that  the  Admiral  continued  writing.  Every  mo- 
ment he  hoped  that  the  ship  would  be  righted ; 
instead  of  that,  the  floor  became  a  more  sharply 
inclined  plane.  Against  her  stout  wooden  walls 
he  could  hear  the  ringing  of  the  carpenters' 
blows,  and  it  sounded  like  a  knell  of  death  to 
him.  He  looked  closely  into  Admiral  Kempen- 
felt's  eyes  to  see  if  there  was  any  premonition 
of  danger;  but  the  Admiral  seemed  strange- 
ly unconscious  of  what  so  powerfully  affected 
Archy,  and  although  barely  able  to  keep  his  feet 
on  rising,  gave  no  sign  of  fear  that  the  ship 
might  go  over. 

Archy  longed  to  ask  the  Admiral  to  go  on 
deck  with  him,  and  even  faltered  out : 

"  Will  you  not  come  above,  sir  ?" 

"No,"  replied  the  Admiral,  surprised  at  the 
suggestion.  "I  have  work  to  do.  Kemember 


304  THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION 

me  to  my  friends  at  Gibraltar.  Good-bye,  and 
all  good  go  with  you." 

"If  we  do  not  meet  again,  Admiral,"  said 
Archy,  in  a  voice  which  trembled  a  little,  and 
then,  all-  at  once,  the  words  he  had  meant  to 
utter  left  him,  and  an  overmastering  impulse 
made  him  turn  and  walk  out  of  the  cabin  as 
quickly  as  he  could. 

Outside  the  door  the  orderly  had  braced  him- 
self against  one  of  the  quarter-deck  guns.  Some- 
thing in  the  man's  face  arrested  Archy's  atten- 
tion at  that  instant.  There  were  strange  noises 
about  the  ship,  a  dull  reverberation  like  thun- 
der, followed  by  a  slight  crash,  and  the  men 
were  running  to  and  fro. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  asked  Archy  of  the 
man. 

"Nothing,  sir,  except  that  the  ship  is  heeled 
over  too  far ;  the  guns  have  broken  loose,  and  I 
believe  in  five  minutes  we  shall  all  be  under 
eighteen  fathom  of  water,"  coolly  replied  the 
orderly. 

The  appearance  of  the  deck  was  far  from  re- 
assuring. As  Archy  took  oif  his  cap  in  passing 
the  officer  in  charge  of  the  deck  he  observed  the 
carpenter  say  a  few  words  in  a  low  tone  to  the 
officer,  whose  reply  was  perfectly  audible. 


THE  ROCK   OF   THE   LION  305 

"  If  you  know  more  about  this  ship,  sir,  than 
I  do,  you  had  better  take  the  deck." 

Archy  ran  to  the  ladder.  The  platform  was 
far  under  water,  and  on  looking  for  his  boat  he 
saw  the  boatman  about  twenty  yards  off,  pull- 
ing away  for  his  life. 

"  Come  here !"  shouted  Archy. 

The  man  simply  shook  his  head,  pulled  a  little 
farther  out,  and  then  lay  on  his  oars.  Archy 
put  his  hand  in  his  pocket  and  held  up  his 
purse.  At  that  the  boatman  quickly  picked  up 
his  oars,  and,  rowing  as  if  his  life  depended  on 
it,  in  a  few  minutes  was  alongside. 

Archy's  conduct  had  not  escaped  observa- 
tion. Several  officers  were  walking  about  the 
deck,  and,  although  they  said  nothing,  their 
faces  were  grave  enough  as  they  leaned  over  the 
rail  and  watched  the  boat,  into  which  Archy 
sprang  while  it  was  yet  several  feet  away  from 
the  half -submerged  ladder. 

"It  wasn't  the  money  for  myself,  sir,  that 
brought  me  back,"  gasped  the  boatman,  as  with 
tremendous  strokes  the  boat  shot  away  from  the 
leaning  hull  of  the  ship;  "but  it  was  worth 
while  to  try  for  my  wife  and  family.  That  there 
ship  is  in  the  most  dangersome  way  I  ever  see  a 
ship.  One  puff  of  wind  now  will  send  her  over." 


306  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

"Lay  on  your  oars,"  said  Archy,  watching 
with  painful  interest  the  mighty  hull  on  which 
the  hammering  and  pounding  sounded  preter- 
naturally  loud. 

The  perilous  position  of  the  ship  was  plain  to 
the  whole  fleet,  and  every  eye  was  turned  towards 
her.  On  several  of  the  ships  near  her  the  order 
was  quietly  given  to  stand  by  to  lower  the  boats. 
In  the  stillness  of  the  August  morning  every 
sound  could  be  heard,  and  on  board  the  Royal 
George  was  much  noise.  The  women  and  chil- 
dren forward  were  laughing  and  chattering  with 
the  sailors,  and  every  moment  a  burst  of  loud 
laughter  showed  that  the  men  were  enjoying 
their  little  holiday  time.  The  noise  of  the  work- 
men striking  the  hull  was  incessant,  but  above  all 
there  would  come  the  frequent  ominous  sound  of 
a  gun  that  would  break  loose  from  its  fastenings 
and  roll  down  the  inclined  plane  to  starboard. 
The  officer  of  the  deck  continued  to  walk  up  and 
down  in  what  seemed  to  every  eye  that  watched 
him  an  almost  insane  ignorance  of  the  danger  of 
the  ship.  The  boatman  turned  to  Archy  and 
said: 

"  I  see  the  carpenter  go  up  to  him  once  afore, 
but  he  didn't  take  no  heed.  I  dare  say  the  car- 
penter won't  ax  him  no  more." 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  907 

However,  at  this  moment  the  officer  turned 
and  disappeared  below. 

Thousands  of  eyes  were  fixed  upon  the  Royal 
Gewge  in  agonizing  apprehension.  Archy,  in  un- 
controllable agitation,  cried  aloud  : 

"Why  don't  they  haul  the  guns  back?  The 
ports  are  all  open,  and  if  she  heels  a  foot  more 
she  is  gone.  Oh,  God  !" 

For  the  Royal  George  was  slowly,  inch  by  inch, 
heeling  over  more  ;  and  at  the  same  instant,  afar 
off,  the  bright  water  grew  dark  with  an  advanc- 
ing wind — the  wind  of  death — which  stole  tow- 
ards the  great  ship  softly  and  silently. 

Suddenly  the  people  on  board  the  doomed 
ship  seemed  to  realize  their  peril.  The  officer  of 
the  deck  reappeared  and  ran  quickly  aft.  The 
crowd  forward  stopped  its  shouting  and  singing 
and  laughing ;  the  sharp  blare  of  the  boatswain's 
pipe  was  heard,  calling  all  hands  on  deck — but  it 
was  too  late.  The  towering  hull  gave  one  lurch 
as  the  wind  struck  it,  the  awful  shriek  of  a  thou- 
sand voices  smote  the  air,  and  in  another  moment, 
with  a  roar  that  was  heard  for  miles,  the  Royal 
George  went  down,  head  foremost,  in  a  black 
vortex  of  her  own  making. 

For  a  few  minutes  Archy  was  dazed  and  par- 
alyzed with  the  horror  of  the  sight.  He  saw 


906  THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION 

the  black  and  seething  whirlpool  made  by  the 
monster,  with  her  hundred  and  twenty  guns,  her 
giant  masts  and  spars,  her  huge  anchors  and 
cables,  for  one  horrible  moment  upon  the  blue 
and  sunlit  water.  He  heard  the  roar  of  the  rush- 
ing air  through  her  ports,  the  thunder  of  guns  and 
anchors  breaking  through  the  decks,  and  a  fright- 
ful crashing,  as  if  every  mast  and  spar  and  deck 
in  the  ship  had  been  splintered  at  once ;  and, 
worst  of  all,  one  wild  shriek  from  twelve  hun- 
dred souls,  swallowed  up  with  her ;  and  never, 
to  his  dying  hour,  could  Archy  Baskerville  for- 
get that  cry — a  cry  that  haunted  forever,  night 
and  day,  all  who  heard  it.  It  was  only  when  it 
had  ceased,  when  instead  of  the  stately  ship  he 
saw  a  seething  mass  of  waters  where  she  lay 
a  minute  before,  and  where  now  a  few  human 
beings  were  tossed  like  leaves  upon  the  water — 
it  was  only  then  that  he  came  a  little  to  his 
senses,  and  shouted  to  the  boatman : 
"  Give  me  an  oar,  and  pull— pull !" 
In  a  little  while  they  were  among  the  floating 
bodies.  The  few  minutes  had  somewhat  sobered 
Archy.  He  still  felt  as  if  he  were  in  some  ter- 
rible dream,  but  almost  without  his  own  volition 
he  began  to  act  rationally.  He  threw  down  his 
oar,  and,  leaving  the  management  of  the  boat 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  309 

to  the  boatman,  stripped  off  his  jacket,  trousers, 
and  shoes,  and,  plunging  into  the  water,  swam 
vigorously  towards  the  first  man  he  saw.  As  he 
got  near  enough  he  recognized  the  orderly  who 
had  been  on  duty  at  the  Admiral's  door.  The 
man  could  not  swim ;  but,  although  almost  sink- 
ing in  his  heavy  clothes,  quietly  obeyed  Archy, 
who  called  to  him : 

"  Don't  catch  me  around  the  neck— put  your 
hand  on  my  shoulder." 

He  would  have  been  hard  to  save,  as  his  clothes 
were  heavy  with  water,  but  the  boat  came  along- 
side at  that  moment  and  he  was  hauled  in.  Archy 
cried  to  him : 

"The  Admiral?" 

"Gone,"  briefly  answered  the  marine.  "He 
never  left  the  cabin." 

Every  ship  in  the  fleet  sent  boats,  and  in  half 
an  hour  all  of  the  survivors  were  picked  up,  and 
then  came  a  terrible  reaction.  The  flags  were 
half-masted,  the  booming  of  minute-guns  over 
the  water  was  heard,  and  the  people  on  the  ships 
and  crowds  that  ran  to  the  shore  gave  way  to 
paroxysms  of  grief  and  horror.  Even  those  who 
had  lost  no  friend  or  relative,  and  they  were  few, 
were  overcome  with  the  dreadful  shock  of  the 
disaster. 


310  THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION 

Archy  Baskerville's  nerve  lasted  him  until, 
with  the  boatman's  help,  he  had  handed  the  or- 
derly and  three  other  men  they  had  saved  over 
to  the  large  cutter  which  was  collecting  the  sur- 
vivors from  the  small  boats,  and  then  he  gave 
way  to  a  perfectly  hysterical  burst  of  grief. 
Within  an  hour  from  the  time  that  he  had 
shown  the  utmost  coolness  and  courage  in  sav- 
ing life,  he  could  only  throw  himself  down  in 
the  boat  and  weep  and  sob  like  a  nervous  wom- 
an over  the  horrors  he  had  seen.  The  boat- 
man, his  stolid  face  ashy  pale,  sat  trembling, 
and  presently  said,  in  a  thick  voice,  to  Archy : 

"  'Tis  lucky,  sir,  that  both  of  us  wasn't  took 
this  way  when  there  was  something  to  do.  I 
swear  to  you,  sir,  my  arms  is  so  weak  I  can 
hardly  pull  the  boat  ashore,  and  I  know  my 
wife  is  near  wild  with  fright,  and — and — I  don't 
seem  to  feel  that,  nor  nothin',  sir." 

"  Pull  me  to  the  Fox,  and  then  you  can  go 
ashore  and  fetch  my  portmanteau,"  said  Archy. 
All  he  wanted  then  was  to  get  away  from  that 
dreadful  spot. 

The  Fox,  a  small  gun-brig,  was  then  getting 
Up  her  anchor,  as  the  wind  was  increasing,  for 
which  she  had  waited,  and  her  orders  admitted 
of  no  delay. 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  311 

As  Archy  came  over  the  side  of  the  brig,  the 
men,  with  white,  set  faces,  were  walking  around 
the  capstan  in  silence,  the  creaking  sound  pain- 
fully audible.  The  officers,  mute,  and,  as  Archy 
could  see,  many  of  them  as  shaken  as  he,  were 
standing  about  the  deck,  and  as  Archy  handed 
Captain  Wilbur — a  stern,  weather-beaten  man — 
Admiral  Kempenfelt's  letter,  on  which  the  ink 
was  scarcely  dry,  he  tried  to  speak,  but  he  could 
only  say,  "  Admiral  Kempenfelt,"  and  burst  into 
tears. 

Captain  Wilbur  lifted  his  cap  as  he  took  the 
letter,  and  then  turned  aside,  to  conceal  his  agi- 
tation. Presently  he  spoke  in  a  low  voice : 

"  Everything  shall  be  attended  to  at  once.  I 
will  send  Admiral  Kempenfelt's  letter  to  the 
flag-ship  immediately,  and  we  will  not  be  de- 
tained more  than  an  hour.  Would  that  we  had 
sailed  before  we  saw  that  awful  sight !" 

The  afternoon  sun  was  declining  when  the  Fox 
passed  out  to  sea.  Archy  looked  resolutely  sea- 
ward— he  could  not  bear  to  turn  his  eyes  tow- 
ards the  dreadful  spot  where  the  Royal  George 
had  gone  down. 

At  eight  bells,  after  relieving  the  watch,  Cap- 
tain Wilbur  called  all  hands  on  deck,  and,  hav- 
ing no  chaplain,  he  himself  held  a  simple  relig- 


-    312  THE   KOCK   OF   THE   LION 

ious  service,  in  which  all,  both  officers  and  men, 
joined  fervently.  Captain  "Wilbur,  although  a 
dashing  officer,  was  a  stern  man,  a  rigid  moral- 
ist, and  counted  as  puritanical — but  all  hearts 
were  subdued  by  the  terrible  calamity  they  had 
just  witnessed.  Archy  felt  that  he  had  special 
cause  for  gratitude,  and  he  gave  thanks  with  a 
greater  devoutness  of  spirit  than  he  had  felt 
since  the  hour  that  Commodore  Jones — a  man 
of  deep  though  unobtrusive  piety— had  exhort- 
ed him  to  thank  God  for  the  glorious  success  of 
their  country. 

They  had  sailed  on  the  29th  of  August,  and 
by  extraordinary  good-fortune  found  themselves 
off  Ushant  within  thirty-six  hours.  There,  wait- 
ing for  them,  was  the  French  frigate  Alceste, 
with  the  English  officers  to  be  exchanged  for 
the  French.  To  Archy's  delight  and  surprise 
he  found  that  as  soon  as  the  French  officers 
were  landed  at  Ushant  the  Alceste  was  to  take 
aboard  the  Comte  d'Artois,  the  King's  brother, 
and  the  Due  de  Bourbon,  who  were  determined 
to  see  the  last  act  in  the  tragedy  and  to  sail  for 
Gibraltar. 

The  gallant  French  officers  expressed  the  ut- 
most sympathy  for  the  terrible  disaster  suffered 
by  the  British  navy,  and  especially  at  the  loss 


THE   BOCK    OF   THE    LION  313 

of  Admiral  Kempenfelt,  who  was  admired  and 
respected  even  by  his  enemies.  The  Admiral's 
letter— the  last  he  had  ever  penned — was  recom- 
mendation enough  to  Archy,  even  without  his 
prestige  as  having  served  under  Paul  Jones. 
He  was  at  once  offered  a  berth  on  the  Alceste, 
which  he  gladly  accepted,  and  on  the  12th  day 
of  September  he  came  in  sight,  for  the  third 
time,  of  the  Kock  of  the  Lion. 

So  celebrated  had  this  siege  become  that  per- 
sons from  all  parts  of  Europe  came,  as  the 
Comte  d'Artois  and  the  Due  de  Bourbon,  to  see 
the  last  mortal  struggle  between  Spain  and  Eng- 
land for  this  mighty  fortress.  On  that  Septem- 
ber day  when  they  cast  anchor  in  the  harbor  of 
Algeciras,  the  shore,  as  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach,  was  an  armed  camp.  The  gigantic  fortifi- 
cations, armed  with  hundreds  of  the  heaviest 
siege  guns,  were  manned  by  forty  thousand  men. 
Fifty  French  and  Spanish  battle-ships,  nine  of 
which  wore  admiral's  flags,  were  drawn  up  in 
menacing  array,  and  beside  them  were  a  hun- 
dred gunboats,  mortar  vessels  and  bomb-ketches, 
ten  enormous  floating  batteries,  and  three  hun- 
dred smaller  boats,  to  land  men  when  a  practic- 
able breach  in  the  defences  should  be  made. 

From  these  enormous  forces  of  attack,  Archy 


314  THE   BOCK    OF   THE    LION 

turned  his  eyes  on  the  great  fortress.  The  gold- 
en light  of  morning  bathed  the  summit  of  the 
Kock  in  fire,  and  the  ensign  of  St.  George  floated 
proudly  above  it.  There  were  not  six  thousand 
men,  and  less  than  a  hundred  guns,  to  oppose  the 
tremendous  bombardment  of  the  Spaniards  and 
French ;  but  these  were  the  seasoned  sailors,  sol- 
diers, and  marines  who  had  held  out  stubbornly 
against  death  and  defeat  in  every  form  for  more 
than  three  years. 

Precisely  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  a 
signal-gun  boomed  over  the  water,  and  then  be- 
gan the  unparalleled  assault,  which  made  all  that 
had  gone  before  it  mere  child's-play. 


CHAPTER  XX 

ON  that  September  morning,  as  the  sun  rose 
in  unclouded  glory,  every  man  of  the  heroic  gar- 
rison of  Gibraltar  was  at  his  post ;  every  soldier 
and  sailor  in  the  tremendous  array  of  ships  and 
batteries  meant  to  annihilate  the  fortress  was 
ready  for  the  assault ;  and  uncounted  thousands 
of  persons,  both  on  sea  and  land,  watched  and 
waited  to  see  this  terrible  and  unmatched  bom- 
bardment. 

At  seven  o'clock  three  hundred  heavy  guns 
on  the  land  side  opened  fire  upon  the  Rock. 
Fifty  ships  of  the  line  and  the  ten  great  floating 
batteries,  protected  by  bomb-proof  shields,  moved 
up  to  within  a  thousand  yards  and  poured  their 
broadsides  upon  the  fortress. 

The  garrison  had  less  than  a  hundred  guns  to 
reply  with,  but  these  were  served  with  a  steadi- 
ness and  vigor  that  made  them  doubly  effective. 
From  these  guns^were  thrown  red-hot  shot,  which 
were  frightfully  destructive  to  the  ships,  but  rolled 
harmlessly  off  the  shields  of  the  formidable  float- 


316  THE   ROCK   OF   THE   LION 

ing  batteries  into  the  water,  from  which  clouds  of 
steam  arose  to  mingle  with  the  dense  smoke  that 
made  the  fair  day  dark.  The  thunder  of  the  guns 
was  indescribable.  The  solid  Rock  itself  seemed 
to  roar  and  tremble  as  it  replied  to  the  hurricane 
of  shot  and  shell  that  rained  upon  it.  The  huge 
ships  fired  broadside  after  broadside,  while  from 
the  isthmus  the  batteries  were  worked  by  ten 
thousand  men.  Soon,  all  below  the  summit  of 
the  Rock  became  as  black  as  midnight  with  the 
smoke,  and  it  was  lighted  by  the  red  flames  from 
the  guns  and  the  explosion  of  magazines  on  land 
and  sea.  But  high  above  all,  serene  in  the  light 
of  morning,  floated  the  proud  standard  of  Eng- 
land. As  Archy  Baskerville,  from  the  AlcestJs 
deck,  watched  the  terrible  and  imposing  sight  of 
war  in  all  its  majesty,  he  felt  a  thrill  of  pride  that 
those  six  thousand  indomitable  men  were  of  the 
same  blood  as  himself. 

All  day  this  hell  of  fire  and  fury  lasted,  and  as 
night  came  on  its  horrors  were  increased  by  the 
ships  and  floating  batteries  catching  fire.  By 
that  time  the  fortress  had  proved  its  impregna- 
ble nature,  and  the  superiority  of  its  cannonade 
became  manifest.  One  after  another  of  the  ships 
caught  fire  from  the  red-hot  shot,  and  by  mid- 
night, in  spite  of  the  utmost  efforts,  the  Pastora, 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  317 

Admiral  Moreno's  flagship,  was  seen  to  be  blaz- 
ing from  stem  to  stern.  Other  of  the  smaller 
vessels  were  in  flames,  and  as  the  day  had  been 
made  dark  by  the  smoke,  so  now  the  blaze 
lighted  up  the  whole  bay  with  a  frightful  glare 
that  was  reflected  m  the  lurid  heavens,  while 
the  Rock  itself  seemed  a  mountain  on  fire. 

The  hot  shot  had  told  with  terrible  effect  on 
the  Spanish  fortifications  on  the  land  side,  and 
they  were  blazing  in  more  than  fifty  places  at 
once.  By  midnight  it  had  proved  equally  appall- 
ing upon  the  fleets  and  floating  batteries.  Nearly 
every  one  of  the  smaller  Spanish  vessels  was  on 
fire,  and  distress  signals  were  seen  in  all  parts  of 
the  bay.  The  wind  was  adverse,  and,  with  the 
powerful  currents,  was  driving  the  ships  of  the 
line  away  from  the  Rock,  so  they  could  be  of  no 
assistance  in  saving  these  smaller  vessels,  which 
drifted  about  helplessly  until  the  fire  reached 
their  magazines,  and  then  would  be  exploded  with 
a  concussion  that  seemed  to  shake  Gibraltar  to 
its  base.  About  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  the 
floating  batteries,  which  were  the  chief  hope  of 
the  besiegers,  were  seen  to  be  in  disorder.  It 
was  then,  by  the  fierce  light  of  battle,  that  Archy 
Baskerville,  from  the  Alcestds  deck,  recognized 
Captain  Curtis,  as,  in  command  of  a  few  light 


318  THE   KOCK    OF   THE   LION 

gunboats,  he  put  off  from  the  New  Mole,  and, 
rapidly  forming  a  line  upon  the  flank  of  the 
floating  batteries,  drove  them  directly  under  the 
guns  of  the  fortress.  This  was  their  destruction, 
and  the  Spaniards  abandoned  them  so  quickly 
that  scores  of  wounded  men  were  left  aboard  of 
them  to  perish  in  the  flames.  Then  Archy  saw 
Captain  Curtis  in  a  cutter  make  for  the  blazing 
and  exploding  boats,  and  with  other  officers  and 
men  drag  forth  the  wounded,  who  would  other- 
wise have  perished  in  the  flames.  Archy's  heart 
swelled  almost  to  bursting. 

"  Oh,  that  I  were  there !  that  I  were  there !"  he 
almost  cried  aloud,  so  overpowering  to  the  heart 
and  the  imagination  is  the  sight  of  heroism. 

At  one  moment  the  cutter  was  alongside  a 
gunboat  just  as  the  magazine  blazed  up.  The 
whole  vessel  seemed  to  rise  in  the  coppery  sky 
and  to  break  into  a  million  pieces  before  it  de- 
scended. No  one  ever  expected  to  see  the  cut- 
ter and  its  heroic  company  again,  but  when  the 
first  horrible  shock  and  crash  were  over  she  was 
seen  still  afloat. 

The  dreadful  night  wore  away  and  the  dawn 
came  on.  Archy,  who  thought  that  he  had 
seen  the  most  terrible  sight  in  the  world  at 
the  sinking  of  the  Royal  George,  now  realized 


THE   BOOK   OF   THE    LION  819 

that  there  was  something  more  dreadful  still. 
The  bay  was  covered  with  wreckage,  to  which 
drowning  men  clung.  Dead  bodies  floated  ev- 
erywhere—  the  smell  of  powder  and  of  blood 
was  in  the  murky  air.  On  the  land  side  it  was, 
if  anything,  worse.  Fortifications  were  destroy- 
ed, guns  were  dismounted,  the  trenches  were  en- 
cumbered with  the  dead  and  dying.  It  was 
then,  when  the  full  scene  of  destruction  was 
visible,  that  the  hopelessness  of  the  attack  was 
seen.  The  preparations  that  had  been  months 
in  making  had  been  tried  and  had  failed,  and 
the  flag  of  England  still  flew  steadily  over  Gib- 
raltar. As  if  by  common  consent  the  tremen- 
dous cannonade  ceased,  and  just  as  the  last  gun 
was  fired  the  first  pale  gleam  of  the  sun  shone 
upon  the  British  ensign,  and  from  the  Kock 
came  borne  a  cry  of  triumph  as  the  salute  was 
played. 

Archy  Baskerville,  who  had  watched  through 
the  whole  day  and  night,  felt  a  thrill  of  some- 
thing strangely  like  joy  at  the  success  of  the 
indomitable  garrison.  He  would  have  liked  to 
echo  that  cry  of  triumph,  and  it  required  all  of 
his  self-control  not  to  do  so ;  but  he  remembered 
that  he  was  on  a  ship  of  his  allies,  and,  what- 
ever his  heart  might  feel,  he  spoke  no  word 


830  THE   ROOK    OF   THE    LION 

that  indicated  the  conflict  of  emotions  within 
him.  The  French  officers  were  equally  on  their 
guard,  but  Archy,  looking  into  the  faces  near 
him  on  the  Alceste's  deck,  when  that  shout  was 
wafted  towards  them  from  the  invincible  for- 
tress, saw  that  they  had  no  more  hope.  The 
fortress  that  could  withstand  the  assault  of  the 
previous  twenty-four  hours  was  impregnable. 

By  common  consent  there  was  peace  on  the 
day  after  this  frightful  bombardment,  and  on 
that  day  Archy  was  permitted  to  go  ashore,  in 
the  effort  to  communicate  with  Langton. 

The  Due  de  Crillon  at  once  gave  permission 
for  him  not  only  to  communicate  with  Langton, 
but  to  go  inside  the  Landport  gate.  The  most 
generous  relations  were  maintained  during  the 
whole  time  that  General  Eliot  and  the  Due  de 
Crillon  were  opposed  to  each  other,  and  every 
favor  consistent  with  prudence  was  granted  on 
each  side. 

At  nightfall,  therefore,  Archy  was  taken  to 
the  Landport  gate  blindfolded,  and  led  inside 
the  fortress,  when  presently  he  found  himself  in 
a  casemate,  and  there — oh,  joy !  were  Langton 
and  Captain  Curtis,  both  overjoyed  to  see  him. 
But  Langton  was  white  and  gasping  for  breath, 
and  as  weak  as  a  child. 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION  321 

"He  has  not  yet  recovered  from  his  fever, 
though  he  worked  like  a  hero  yesterday ;  but  I 
think  he  will  not  be  able  to  do  any  more  during 
the  siege,"  said  Captain  Curtis. 

Langton  could  only  smile  feebly,  and  ask 
eagerly  after  his  mother  and  sisters. 

"  But  you  must  get  well  now,  to  be  our  grand- 
father's heir,  because,  I  assure  you,  he  means  to 
make  you  so,"  cried  Archy,  trying  to  be  cheer- 
ful, but  feeling  a  sinking  at  the  heart  as  he 
looked  at  Langton. 

And  then  Archy  declared  he  would  not  leave 
the  fortress  without  a  glimpse  of  Mrs.  Curtis  and 
Dolly  and  Judkins.  They  were  all  sent  for,  and 
there  was  a  brief  interview  —  too  hurried  for 
joy,  but  yet  comforting  when  Archy  clasped 
their  hands  and  felt  Dolly's  childish  arms 
around  his  neck.  But,  presently,  like  a  dream, 
it  was  over,  and  he  was  once  more  outside  the 
walls. 

Archy  had  formed  a  plan  before  he  had  seen 
Langton  for  five  minutes,  and  the  very  next  day 
he  carried  it  into  effect.  He  got  an  audience 
with  the  Due  de  Crillon,  and  told  him  briefly 
the  story  of  his  relations  with  Langton,  and  his 
forced  imprisonment  during  a  part  of  the  siege, 
and  then,  in  a  burst  of  frankness,  he  said : 


323  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

"  Pardon,  sir,  but  Mr.  Langton  caii  be  of  no 
more  service  at  Gibraltar.  I  am  almost  afraid  if 
released  now  that  he  will  not  live  to  return  to 
England ;  but  if  he  could  be  released  on  parole 
— he  seems  almost  dying  now — his  mother — " 

Archy  stopped,  and  the  Due  de  Crillon,  after 
a  pause,  turning  to  his  military  secretary,  said : 

"  Make  out  a  parole  for  Midshipman  Langton, 
of  the  Koyal  navy,  and  address  it  to  General  Sir 
George  Eliot,  saying  if,  in  his  judgment,  Mr. 
Langton  is  a  non-combatant  now,  and  likely  to 
remain  so,  that  this  parole  is  at  his  service." 

Archy  tried  to  express  his  thanks,  but  his  heart 
was  too  full  for  his  tongue  to  be  glib.  His  very 
hesitation  and  embarrassment,  however,  were  not 
without  their  eloquence,  and  the  Due  de  Crillon 
did  not  for  one  moment  suspect  him  of  a  want 
of  gratitude. 

It  still  took  some  days  to  arrange  the  prelim- 
inaries, and  Archy  was  permitted  to  enter  the 
fortress  several  times.  He  could  scarcely  believe 
his  eyes  when  he  saw  how  little  damage  had 
been  inflicted  by  the  greatest  bombardment  in 
history,  and  he  could  hardly  believe  his  ears 
when  the  slight  loss  sustained  by  the  besieged 
was  mentioned  to  him.  One  thing  appeared 
settled,  that  Gibraltar  could  never  be  taken  by 


THE   KOCK   OF   THE    LION  323 

assault,  and  that  the  Spanish  and  French  com- 
manders would  make  no  further  efforts. 

Archy,  being  plentifully  supplied  with  money, 
through  the  assistance  of  the  Spanish  authorities 
was  enabled  to  get  a  small  neutral  vessel,  which 
agreed  to  take  to  England  himself  and  Langton 
and  a  few  other  non-combatants  who  were  per- 
mitted to  leave  the  fortress. 

On  the  last  day  of  September  they  embarked. 
At  the  Landport  gate  Archy  met  Langton,  look- 
ing frightfully  ill,  and  supported  by  Captain  Cur- 
tis and  Judkins,  while  Mrs.  Curtis  and  Dolly 
walked  behind.  The  kindest  farewells  were  ex- 
changed. 

"  We  will  meet  soon  in  England,"  said  Archy ; 
"  the  siege  is  over,  the  war  with  my  country  is 
over,  and  as  soon  as  Parliament  meets  a  gen- 
eral peace  will  be  proclaimed.  But,  American 
as  I  am,  I  can  never  think  of  what  I  saw  at 
Gibraltar  without  being  proud  to  be  of  the 
same  race  as  the  men  who  defended  it,  and  the 
women  too." 

At  this,  Dolly  said,  gravely  : 

"I  love  you,  Archy,  even  if  you  are  a  rebel," 
which  made  them  all  laugh  and  relieved  the  sad- 
ness of  the  parting. 

Once  on  board  the  vessel  and  under  a  fair 


324  THE   ROCK   OF   THE    LION 

wind  for  home,  Langton  seemed  to  take  a  new 
lease  of  life.  Their  quarters  were  cramped  and 
their  discomforts  many,  but  he  was  homeward 
bound,  and  that  was  enough.  They  had  a  quick 
voyage  to  Gravesend,  and  taking  post-horses  for 
London,  arrived  at  Lord  Bellingham's  town  house 
in  Berkeley  Square,  and,  the  first  thing,  Archy 
almost  ran  into  Colonel  Baskerville's  arms. 

"I  have  brought  Langton  himself  back,  in- 
stead of  news  concerning  him,"  cried  Archy,  as 
soon  as  they  were  inside  the  doors ;  and  the  next 
moment  he  heard  a  faint  cry  beside  him.  Mrs. 
Langton,  her  arms  wide  open,  had  entered  the 
room,  and  there  Langton  was  in  his  mother's 
arms ;  and  Colonel  Baskerville  and  Archy  turned 
their  backs  and  pretended  to  be  very  busy  talk- 
ing, while  the  mother  and  son  were  in  the  first 
rapture  of  meeting.  And  then  Mary  and  Isabel 
rushed  in,  and  laughed  and  cried  as  they  hugged 
Langton,  and  even  condescended  to  be  glad  to 
see  Archy ;  and  presently  they  were  all  marched 
off  to  Lord  Bellingham's  room,  who  was  to  see, 
for  the  first  time,  the  grandson  for  whom  he  des- 
tined a  great  fortune  and  a  brilliant  future. 

Langton  was  still  pale  and  weak,  but  it  only 
made  his  face  more  interesting,  and  his  bearing 
was  still  military. 


THE   ROCK   OF   THE    UON  325 

Archy  watched  keenly  the  meeting  between 
the  old  man  and  the  young  one.  Lord  Belling- 
ham's  piercing  glance  travelled  all  over  Lang- 
ton's  person,  and  then  wandered  for  a  moment 
to  Archy,  who  was,  at  all  times,  the  handsomer 
and  the  more  spirited  of  the  two.  But  Lang- 
ton's  calm  dignity  and  manly  self-possession  were 
not  without  their  power,  and  even  Lord  Belling- 
ham  had  no  reason  to  be  dissatisfied  with  him. 
And  now  Archy,  having,  as  he  justly  thought, 
a  right  to  express  himself,  indulged  his  natural 
and  incurable  propensity  for  speaking  his  mind, 
and,  looking  Lord  Bellingham  squarely  in  the 
eye,  said : 

"  I  hope,  grandfather,  you  have  now  a  grand- 
son who  will  suit  you  in  all  respects,  and  I 
only  wish  you  could  give  Langton  the  title, 
as  I  don't  want  it.  By-the-way,  sir,  I  hear  that 
King  George  is  preparing  to  back  down  as  grace- 
fully as  possible  at  the  meeting  of  Parliament." 

To  which  Lord  Bellingham's  reply  was  to  say, 
good-humoredly : 

"  Grandson,  you  have  earned  the  right  to  be 
impertinent." 

Langton  was  immediately  established  in  the 
position  of  heir-apparent,  and  Lord  Bellingham 
could  scarcely  allow  him  to  recover  from  the  fa- 


326  THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION 

tigues  of  his  journey  before  sending  for  the  fam- 
ily solicitor  to  make  his  will.  But  Archy's  po- 
sition was  far  from  unpleasant.  He  was  a  hero 
to  Langton  and  to  Mrs.  Langton,  and  in  course 
of  time  actually  subdued  Mary  and  Isabel,  while 
Colonel  Baskerville,  who  had  always  felt  a  deep 
affection  for  him,  became  every  day  more  at- 
tached to  him.  As  for  Lord  Bellingham,  he 
seemed  to  find  Archy  a  source  of  perpetual  in- 
terest and  diversion,  and  although  he  gave  no 
hint  of  intending  to  do  more  than  give  him 
the  promised  two  thousand  pounds,  it  was  plain 
that  he  was  far  from  indifferent  to  his  American 
grandson.  Archy  had  always  taken  liberties, 
hitherto  unheard  of,  with  his  grandfather,  and 
so  far  from  producing  explosions  of  temper, 
they  only  provoked  the  silent  laughter  which  was 
Lord  Bellingham's  way  of  showing  amusement. 

But  Archy  himself  had  undoubtedly  improved. 
He  was  learning,  by  degrees,  to  be  frank  with- 
out being  disagreeable,  to  have  his  joke  without 
trampling  upon  the  sensibilities  of  others,  and 
to  be  considerate  of  the  faults  and  foibles  of  old 
age.  In  fact,  his  self-love  became  enlisted  on 
his  grandfather's  side,  for,  as  Colonel  Baskerville 
sometimes  reminded  him,  dryly : 

"If  you  had  been  born  a  peer  with  a  great 


THE   ROCK    OF   THE    LION  327 

rent-roll,  I  think  you  would  have  been  more 
domineering  and  dictatorial  than  Lord  Belling- 
ham." 

There  was  still  no  love  lost  between  Archy  and 
his  two  girl  cousins,  but  their  nimble  tongues 
were  silenced  by  Archy's  generosity  towards 
Langton,  who  was  the  family  darling.  It  must 
be  admitted  that  Archy  took  rather  mean  ad- 
vantage of  this,  and  when  he  received  a  long 
letter  from  Paul  Jones,  the  lives  of  Mary  and 
Isabel  were  made  miserable  by  his  chaff  and 
jeers.  Langton  had  to  hear  the  whole  story 
of  their  infatuation  for  Paul  Jones,  which  lost 
nothing  in  Archy's  telling,  and  made  Langton 
laugh  for  a  week ;  and  when  the  letter  by  some 
untoward  accident  was  lost,  Archy  declined  to 
be  convinced  that  Mary  and  Isabel  had  not 
cribbed  it  for  a  keepsake. 

So  several  weeks  passed  in  the  gloomy  old 
mansion,  which  Archy  disrespectfully  called  an 
old  rattle-trap.  But  they  were  not  gloomy  weeks 
to  any  one  in  it.  For  the  first  time  in  his  life 
Lord  Bellingham  was  surrounded  by  those  who 
should  be  nearest  and  dearest  to  him,  and  he 
found  life  a  very  different  and  far  pleasanter 
thing  than  when  he  had  been  at  war  with  his 
whole  family.  His  daughter's  kind  attentions 


328  THE   BOOK    OF   THE   LION 

added  to  his  comfort,  and  his  four  handsome 
grandchildren  were  a  source  of  infinite  pride  to 
him — and  pride  meant  pleasure  to  Lord  Belling- 
ham.  Parliament  was  to  meet  on  the  5th  of 
December,  and  Lord  Bellingham  determined  to 
attend  in  his  peer's  robes  and  coronet,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  times. 

The  day  was  dull  and  gloomy  outside,  but 
Archy  Baskerville  thought  it  the  happiest  and 
brightest  day  that  had  ever  yet  shone  upon  him, 
for  the  King,  in  his  speech  from  the  throne,  was 
to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  the  Amer- 
ican colonies. 

About  ten  o'clock  on  that  morning  the  family 
coach  was  at  the  door,  and  Colonel  Baskerville, 
Archy,  and  Langton  awaited  Lord  Bellingham  to 
drive  to  the  House  of  Lords.  When  he  appeared 
in  his  scarlet  robes,  and  carrying  his  coronet  in 
his  hand,  something  very  like  a  smile  appeared 
upon  the  countenances  of  his  brother  and  his  two 
grandsons.  Archy  mentally  congratulated  him- 
self that  he  would  never  have  to  appear  in  such 
a  rig,  and  even  whispered  as  much  to  Langton. 
Lord  Bellingham  was  in  a  very  bad  humor  as 
the  result  of  his  trailing  robes  and  troublesome 
coronet,  but  nothing  could  damp  Archy's  en- 
thusiasm. 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  329 

"We  shall  be  mobbed,"  fretfully  exclaimed 
Lord  Bellingham.  "  This  young  gentleman  here 
will  probably  begin  huzzaing  out  of  the  coach 
window  for  the  colonies,  and  God  knows  what 
will  befall  us  then  !" 

"I'll  take  care  of  all  of  you,  grandfather," 
magnanimously  declared  Archy,  which  only  in- 
creased the  Earl's  irritation,  and  Archy  proceed- 
ed to  fan  the  flame  by  remarking  that  he  sup- 
posed the  King,  too,  was  in  a  very  bad  humor 
that  morning. 

And  so  he  was.  When,  amid  a  death-like  still- 
ness in  the  House  of  Lords,  the  King  rose  to 
read  his  speech  to  Parliament  assembled,  he  gave 
every  indication  of  agitation  and  embarrassment. 
He  proceeded  falteringly  until  he  announced  the 
cessation  of  the  American  war,  and  then,  at- 
tempting to  utter  the  sentence,  "I  offer  to  de- 
clare them  free  and  independent  States,"  he  broke 
down  completely,  and,  after  a  painful  and  agi- 
tated silence,  with  a  distressing  effort  read  the 
fateful  words. 

Archy  was  squeezed  in  a  corner  of  the  gallery 
close  by  Colonel  Baskerville,  who  kept  a  keen 
watch  upon  him  to  check  any  characteristic  out- 
break of  enthusiasm,  and  was  actually  enabled 
to  prevent  it  until  the  tedious  but  imposing 


330  THE   BOCK   OF   THE   LION 

proceedings  were  over.  Outside  the  Houses  of 
Parliament  a  vast  crowd  was  assembled.  There 
were  a  few  cheers  for  the  King's  speech,  but 
most  of  the  multitude  accepted  the  tremendous 
event  in  solemn  silence.  As  Archy  came  out 
with  the  surging  crowd  he  suddenly  shouted 
out  a  long  and  loud  "  Huzza !"  but  the  next  mo- 
ment Colonel  Baskerville  had  clapped  his  hand 
over  Archy's  mouth,  had  hustled  him  into  the 
coach,  and  they  were  driving  off,  Lord  Belling- 
ham  scowling  in  the  corner  seat.  But  Langton, 
shaking  Archy's  hand  cordially,  cried  out : 

"Congratulations,  Archy.  We  shall  yet  live 
to  glory  in  our  kin  beyond  the  sea." 

***** 

Ten  years  after  that,  one  Christmas  Eve,  a  new 
and  handsome  equipage  dashed  into  the  village 
of  Bellingham  about  dusk.  As  the  coachman 
pulled  up  the  horses,  the  footman  jumped  down, 
threw  open  the  door,  and  let  down  the  steps. 
Forth  stepped  Langton,  now  a  handsome  man 
of  eight-and-twenty,  and  after  him  came  Colonel 
Baskerville,  not  looking  a  day  older  than  on  that 
November  afternoon,  ten  years  before,  when  he 
had  travelled  from  York  with  the  young  Amer- 
ican midshipman,  quite  unconscious  of  the  close 
relationship  between  them. 


THE   BOCK   OF   THE    LION  331 

The  coach  from  York  was  almost  due,  and 
they  had  not  long  to  wait  before  it  rolled  in,  the 
horses  steaming  in  the  wintry  air.  Without 
waiting  for  it  to  come  to  a  full  stop,  Archy 
Baskerville  made  a  flying  leap  from  the  box- 
seat,  and  Langton  and  himself,  grasping  each 
other,  indulged  in  a  bear-hug  worthy  of  their 
midshipman  days. 

Archy  then  turned  his  attention  to  Colonel 
Baskerville,  and  treated  him  to  a  similar  em- 
brace, which  almost  broke  his  ribs,  but  which 
the  Colonel  bore  uncomplainingly  for  the  quiet 
joy  the  meeting  with  Archy  gave  him. 

Langton  promptly  shoved  Archy  into  the 
coach,  the  footman  seized  the  portmanteaus 
from  the  boot  of  the  York  coach,  and  the  four 
blooded  horses  took  the  road  through  the  path 
towards  Bellingham  Castle. 

"  Langton,"  cried  Archy,  as  soon  as  they  were 
in  the  coach,  "you  are  a  thousand  times  wel- 
come to  the  castle  and  the  title,  and  even  our 
grandfather's  peer's  robes  and  coronet,  when  they 
come  to  you,  for  I  have  now  the  prospect  of 
having  what  my  heart  has  yearned  for  during 
ten  years.  Congress  has  authorized  the  building 
of  six  fine  frigates,  and  I  have  the  promise  of  one 
of  them.  I  shall  be  Captain  Baskerville  at  last !" 


332  THE  BOCK   OF  THE   LION 

"  Then  I  know  you  will  be  happy,"  replied 
Langton.  "  I  remember  you  always  declared 
you  would  rather  have  a  fine  ship  than  the 
greatest  castle  in  England." 

"I  do  not  think  you  have  changed  much," 
said  Colonel  Baskerville. 

"Oh,  you  are  mistaken,  uncle,"  answered 
Archy,  quite  confidently.  "  I  have  learned  pru- 
dence, I  assure  you,  and  a  great  many  of  the 
other  beggarly  virtues,"  at  which  the  Colonel 
smiled  significantly. 

"  And  whom,  think  you,  have  we  to  meet  you 
at  Belli ngham  besides  my  mother  and  sisters? 
Dolly  Curtis,  now  a  lovely  girl  of  twenty-two, 
and  very  anxious  to  see  her  old  playfellow,"  said 
Langton. 

"  How  jolly !"  was  Archy's  reply.  But  when 
he  tried  to  imagine  Dolly  as  anything  but  a 
little  girl,  who  played  with  him  and  scrambled 
all  over  him,  and  rode  upon  his  shoulders  and 
sang  songs  with  Judkins,  he  failed  utterly. 

Presently  they  rattled  up  to  the  door  and 
were  in  the  great  hall  in  a  moment,  and  Mrs. 
Langton's  arms  were  around  Archy's  neck,  and 
she  was  leading  him  to  Lord  Bellingham's  chair 
by  the  fire,  where  the  old  man  sat  quite  tremu- 
lous with  joy  to  see  him. 


THE   EOCK   OF   THE   LION  333 

And  Archy  burst  out  with  the  very  thing 
that  pleased  Lord  Bellingham  most : 

"  I  wished  to  see  all  my  friends  in  England, 
grandfather,  but  especially  you ;  for  after  I  went 
back  to  America  and  experienced  your  generos- 
ity in  providing  for  me,  I  recalled  all  your  kind- 
ness while  I  was  here,  and  I  wondered  how  you 
put  up  with  such  a  presumptuous  little  beggar 
as  I  was." 

Isabel  and  Mary,  two  handsome  and  dignified 
young  women,  came  forward  and  greeted  him 
with  the  utmost  cordiality,  and  they  all  three 
burst  out  laughing  involuntarily  at  the  same 
moment,  remembering  their  ancient  squabbles. 

And  then  a  charming,  beautiful,  modest  girl 
advanced,  who  looked  at  Archy  with  strange 
but  not  unfriendly  eyes — Dolly's  eyes — and  gave 
him  her  hand — over  which  he  bowed — and  said 
to  him  in  a  sweet  and  thrilling  voice  one  word 
which  brought  back  the  stirring  past : 

"Gibraltar!" 


THE  END 


A     000036675 


